


Recluse Origins

by fallensoldier420



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Gen, Original Character(s)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-04
Updated: 2020-08-05
Packaged: 2021-03-06 00:14:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 20
Words: 46,401
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25714135
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fallensoldier420/pseuds/fallensoldier420
Summary: A young boy finds himself struggling with high school and super powers!You can say it's the original draft for the story series I'm working on featuring the same character!It spans 4 years and hits almost 47k word count over 19 chapters!Thanks for taking time to check it out. If you like it I have a few more I can post from my MCU/SHIELD adventures.





	1. Chapter 1

Preface and forewarnings:   
This book is not to be paid for, it is a free work under a fan fiction clause. While I poured my heart into creating this small part of the much bigger world around them, the bigger world was not created or owned by me. I do hope you enjoy this little tale, and maybe would continue on as this world evolves and changes into the full picture of how I see it! Thank you for checking into this fun little story, so without further ado! 

Part 1: Life Changes…

Chapter 1:

June 21,2003, Lake Lincoln State Park, Mississippi. 

It was a hot summer afternoon, Jerren and Mick were enjoying the vacation with Jerren’s parents. They had explored those woods plenty of times before, but they ventured a little deeper into the thicket this time. The woods echoed as the two boy clashed their sticks they found on the ground as if they were real swords.   
“You won’t beat me this time!” Mick said as he swung hard trying to break the stick in Jerren’s hands, while Jerren fought back, countering Mick with a heavier swing. Mick knew Jerren was stronger, but he was faster and full of determination.   
“You say that every time, and look, your stick is about to-“ Mick’s stick snapped as he barely avoided getting hit by Jerren’s before Jerren could finish his sentence. “You just suck at picking good sticks!” Jerren teased as Mick slung the broken stick into the thicket.   
“I just like lighter weapons! Next time, I’ll get a fresher one, and I’ll win.” Mick said as the two laughed. As much as Mick hated losing, he loved every second of any kind of competition. Mick looked around as he noticed how quiet everything was, it was eerie. Not even the birds were out, just them and the beams of sunlight that trickled through the canopy of pines. “Have you noticed just how quiet it is out here today?”   
“Yeah, I was just thinking that. Maybe we should head back to the camper, maybe a storm is coming?” Jerren said as they heard a limb snap. The two looked around, seeing nothing. As Mick glanced up, seeing the sunlight dancing through the slow moving limbs, he felt his skin crawl.   
“I have bad feeling right now, maybe we should hurry back.” Mick said, placing his righthand to his trusty knife in his pocket as the cool breeze from the lake made it’s way through the woods.   
“It’s so weird, I feel like someone’s watching us.” Jerren said as they began to jog the lush path back towards the camp site. 

They continued a brisk pace, until they heard another limb crack, this time, they saw it fall a few feet behind them. Both Mick and Jerren looked up in the tree, and back at each other confused. “Did you see that?” Jerren asked, as Mick nodded.   
“Looked like a blur, we should probably move a little faster.” Mick said as Jerren nodded. Neither of them really liked running, nor could they go for long distances, but the fear and adrenaline aided them as they ran as fast as they could.   
Mick was faster, by a lot, but he froze as a shadow passed over him. Jerren caught up to him, while Mick’s curiosity had him staring up into the branches. “It’s chasing us, whatever it is, and it’s fast.” He struggled to say, breathing heavily in attempts to catch his breath.   
“If we stop now it’ll catch us, we need to go now!” Jerren huffed as he started running again. Mick nodded as he took a deep breath and rushed to catch up.   
Mick tripped on a root, fussing as he rolled, causing Jerren to look back, seeing a large man landing on the ground in behind him. “Look out!” He cried as Mick scrambled to his feet.  
The man backhanded Mick hard enough that he fell backwards. “Sorry, I like to play with my food.” The man taunted, with two large fangs in his wicked smile.   
Jerren grabbed a large limb on the ground, running at the man, who caught the branch as if he expected it, then crushed it with ease. Jerren was horrified as slowly backed away. Mick swung his fist at the man as hard as he could, but it felt as if he punched a wall. The man was unfazed by the hit, laughed as Mick shook his hand in pain, buying Jerren time to back away. “Feisty ones taste best. I’m going to enjoy this, and I’ll have you as a dessert!” The man reached back grabbing Mick by the throat, squeezing tightly, lifting Mick so he was on the tips of his toes.   
“Go get help” Mick choked out as Jerren nodded, running as fast as he could.   
“I’ll catch him after I finish with you.” The man growled leaning his head to the side, as his neck popped, and his fangs began to drip with shimmering liquid. “It’ll only hurt for a moment.” The man hissed biting into the left side of Mick’s neck.   
Mick screamed out in pain, struggling to escape as the burning pain seared throughout his body. The adrenaline flow only amplified the pain, as he struggled to focus on pulling his knife from his pocket. His vision slowly began to fade in and out as the pain reached unbearable levels. He forced his right arm up, stabbing the man in his side with the knife.   
The man roared in pain, dropping Mick, and staggering backwards, pulling the blade from his side then tossing it on the ground. He glared as Mick who shook his head, barely conscious. The sound of helicopters echoed through the woods as the man mumbled furiously.   
“No! How did they already track me here?” He growled looking up at the tree’s dancing from the wind. “Too bad I can’t finish my dinner. Dead ones just don’t taste the same.” He said, kicking brush onto Mick covering him from sight, as ropes dropped from the sky, along with people propelling down. Mick watched as the men fired at the monster who attacked him, hitting him as a blue aura’s to flash over him, freezing him in place, then crumble to the ground without any struggle. They quickly surrounded him as they landed, as Mick struggled to move closer to the tree trying to get the brush off so they could see him, while dealing with incredible amounts of pain coursing through his body.  
“He’s got blood on his face, he just attacked someone!” A man’s voice cried out.  
“They can’t be too far, spread out, find them.” A cool smooth voice said.   
“Yes sir, Agent Coulson.” several voices said, as Mick reached for his neck feeling the sticky blood dripping down, the pain so severe he could hardly move. He heard footsteps all around him as he continued to try to pull himself to a better view of them.   
“Looks like I found you.” A man said looking down at Mick, who was covered in blood. “He never leaves people alive, you must be extremely lucky. My name is Phil Coulson, I’m here to help.”   
Mick stared blankly at the man, as all he could see was a silhouette, the pain intensifying as Coulson moved his hand looking at the wound on his neck. “Stay with me!” Coulson said tapping Mick’s face lightly. His breathing was shallowing, he felt his heart slowing down. “I need you to answer a few questions, really easy, ok?” He asked as Mick tried to nod, his neck becoming stiff, as other agents lifted him onto a stretcher. “Do your parent’s have a number we can call?” He asked as Mick tried to nod again holding his left hand to his neck. “Can you dial it if I hold a phone up for you?” Coulson asked pulling out a cell phone, holding it close to Mick’s right hand. He slowly dialed the numbers to Mrs. Bennet’s cell phone, and as he hit the last digit, then his vision was gone. All that remained was the pain, and the darkness he was falling into. 

His eyes were blurry as he looked around the small room seeing the dim lights in the ceiling, he felt the IV in his right arm as he went to move it. It took a second for him to realize he was in the hospital bed. The heart monitor beeped as his mind slowly began to focus. He reached for his neck with his left arm, as he felt the bandage, and searing pain. He took a deep breath as someone walked into the room. “Oh thank God you’re awake! We were so worried about you!” Mrs. Bennet said, followed by Jerren and Mr. Bennet walking in. “You’re mom is on her way out here too. They said a bear attacked you! I had no idea there were bear’s near the camp grounds!” She exclaimed as Mick stared at Jerren, who shook his head unsure how to respond, as Mick was clearly confused as well.   
“You must have a serious guardian angel! That Ranger Coulson said you’re lucky that they found you when they did.” Mr. Bennet said with a smile.   
“Yeah, is Coulson still around?” Mick asked as his voice was hoarse from the screaming.   
“He just went to grab a coffee, he hasn’t left your side since you got here.” Mrs. Bennet said, as the phone began ringing. “I bet that’s your mom! I’ll be right out there, you get some rest!” She said scurrying out of the room.   
“I’m going to go out too, coming Jerren?” Mr. Bennet asked.   
“Yeah, I’m coming, give me a sec.” Jerren said as his dad walked out of the room.   
“That guy Coulson was on the phone with Mom when I reached the camper, she saw the look of panic on my face, and figured I was coming get help to get the bear away from you. I’m sorry I left you like that.” Jerren said as regret covered his face.   
“It’s cool. ‘Least it’s just me in the bed, could be both of us, or worse.” Mick joked with a half hearted smile, as Jerren smiled in return.   
“Your GBA is under your pillow, I figured you’d want something to keep you occupied while you’re stuck in the bed.” Jerren said with a wink, as he walked away.   
“Thanks.” Mick said, as he reached under his pillow feeling his Gameboy Advance SP. 

A few brief moments passed as he played Pokemon Ruby, until the door opened again. Mick watched the man dressed in a suit step in. “You’re awake. We need to talk.” He said cooly and with a smile, walking towards the small chair next to Mick’s bed.   
Mick nodded slowly, setting the Gameboy down. “So as far as anyone is concerned, you were attacked by a small bear, got that?” Coulson said sternly.  
“But it was that freaky dude with fangs, and I’m sure a bear would do more damage and just this.” Mick said placing his hands on his neck as Coulson shook his head in agreement.   
“His name is Arachnid. He’s a murderer who was bit by some kind of radioactive spider or something like that.” Coulson said as Mick’s eyes widened curiously. “Yeah, that’s why we’re saying it was a bear. Less looks like that.”   
“Just who are you, Mr. Coulson?” Mick asked as Coulson smiled.   
“Like I said before, I’m Phil Coulson. What I didn’t tell you is, I’m from the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement, and Logistics Division.” He said as Mick looked puzzled.  
“You mean the government? Are you like a secret agent or something?” Mick asked trying to hide his smile.   
“Yeah, like that. I deal with the more weird things that happen, occasionally some really bad people.” Coulson said as Mick chuckled. “I’m going to trust you won’t say anything about what really happened, and we’re going to make sure nothing like that happens again. In a way, I should say thank you, because we’ve been trying to catch Arachnid for a few weeks.”   
“I guess your welcome. Glad I could help, maybe?”   
“Just don’t tell anyone about Arachnid, I’d hate for someone to lock you up in a psych ward or worse.” Coulson said with a laugh.  
“Yeah, that’s all I need going into high school. Oh you’re the boy from the crazy ward.” Mick joked as the door opened as his mom rushed in without noticing Coulson sitting in the chair next to Mick’s bed.   
“Thank God you’re alive! I’ve never drove that fast in my life!” She said running over to the bed, brushing the hair from Mick’s face to the side. “Sorry, my name is Lina, and you are?” She stretched out a hand towards Agent Coulson.   
“Phil Coulson, I’m the one that found him, and took care of the bear that attacked him.” He said suavely, as Mick smiled.   
“Thank you so much Mr. Coulson. I don’t think I could ever repay you for that.” She said looking back at Mick.   
“Don’t worry about the bills either, we’re going to cover that too. They should just be keeping him a couple days, and releasing him, pending on how he’s doing. He’s lucky he was only brushed by claw, should only be a two small scars. Here, this is my card if you need anything, don’t hesitate to call.” He slipped out a business card with only his name and number on it.   
“Thanks Mr. Coulson.” Mick said, as his mom took the card, looking at it curiously, then placing it in her purse.   
“Keep in touch.” Coulson said, winking at Mick, as he walked to the door.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2:

Everyone had left for dinner, leaving Mick alone to think about the events from the afternoon before. As he lay relaxing, his muscles began burning, as if the poison reactivated. His hands trembled violently, his breathing heavy, heart racing. He wanted to scream out in pain, but his voice wouldn’t come out. He felt sweat pouring over him, as his heart rate climbed higher, causing the machines to scream. The door burst open as two nurses ran in, trying to evaluate him. His body convulsed as they tried to hold him down to figure out what was happening. His vision blurred again, as his body temperature soared, bringing more sweat, and worse tremors. “We need a doctor! Stat!” A nurse yelled as more people began to rush into the room, as Mick’s mind went blank. 

Morning came, and with it, no pain, no agony, nothing. He sat up easily, he felt as if nothing happened. Even the soreness in his neck had vanished. He felt the bandage, just to make sure it was still there. To his surprise, even the tenderness was gone. He glanced over, to see his mom asleep on the small couch, wondering when she came back, and if she saw the pain he was in. She always worried about him struggling, and it was worse when it was something she couldn’t help with. He sat up slowly as a doctor walked in to check on him.   
“You look like you’re feeling much better.” The doctor said with a smile.  
“I am, what ever you guys did, I feel great!” Mick responded as the doctor nodded with a smile.   
“We think the you’re body was reacting to something the bear had on it’s claws, some kind of toxins. Either way, it seems to be all cleared up after we injected you with some extra white blood cells.” The doctor said as Mick shrugged. “If everything goes well today, you’ll get to head home today.”   
“Sounds great.” Mick said looking at the nightstand, reaching over to grab his Gameboy as the doctor walked out of the room. He paused as he noticed a strange shimmering pattern on his wrist, lifted his arm close to get a better look. The lines made a barely visible spiderweb just below his hand. He squeezed his hand wondering what it was or where that thing came from. He shrugged it off, grabbing his Gameboy, then played Pokemon Ruby to help pass the time until he was released. 

The ride home was long and boring, giving him too much time to think about how close his summer was to ending. He was met at the door by his sisters, who for once, were excited to see him. Andy and Alice both wrapped their arms around him as he stepped out of the car. “Yeah, yeah, get off me. I’m fine.” He said playfully pushing them away.   
“Not many people have wrestled a bear and lived to tell the tale.” His dad said leaning on the door frame. Mick smiled nodded as he walked inside, straight to his room to rest, as ordered by his mom. 

Once alone in his room, he looked at both of his wrist, seeing the spiderwebs shimmering in the light, confused. “What does it mean?” He wondered as he laid on his water bed. He reflected on everything that had happened, how Arachnid seemed to glide through the trees, and the strength he had when he hit Mick. Mick trembled at the thoughts, his hands gripping tightly on the post of his bed. He heard a crack. He looked up moving his hand, amazed at his hand print indented into the post. He gasped as confusion swept over him as he sat up. He slid his hand down the indentions with new wonderment filling his mind, “Do I have superpowers?” 

He quickly ran out his room, slipping out the front door before anyone noticed. He ran to the side of the house and grabbed his bike, riding to woods in the back of the neighborhood. He loved slipping into the woods to relax, and explore. It made him feel free from everything and everyone. He rode into the woods, watching to make sure no one was following him, stopping when he could no longer see the road. He leaned his bike next to a tree, then jumped at the tree crashing into it and sliding down. “Okay, so I can’t fly. Gotcha.” He mumbled pulling himself off the ground, wiping the bark from his shirt. He then walked over to a smaller tree, his hands barely fit around it, and squeezed, causing the tree to pop and crack. As he release the tree, parts of the bark stuck to his hand, leaving him confused, shaking his hands, which knocked the bark off. He walked over to a large pine tree, placing his hand on it, followed by his other, then both feet. “No way!” He exclaimed as he stuck to the tree without falling. 

He proceeded to climb higher in the tree in amazement, until he reached a large enough branch for him to sit on. He looked at the webs on his wrists wondering if he could use them. He stretched his hands out, nothing happened. He continued to contort his hands in different shaped until he shrugged. “So I can climb, and I have strength, what else?” He wondered as his mind flashed back to Arachnid and how he jumped between the branches. Then he flinched seeing the branch breaking before it happened, then grabbing the trunk, as the branch he was on snapped, falling down about fifteen feet. “Huh, that was close, and weird.” He muttered climbing down the tree. 

As Mick walked back in the house, his mom spun around as she walked into the kitchen confused. “I thought you were in your room resting, where have you been?”.  
“I went for a bike ride. Wanted to clear my head.” He said as she looked disappointed.   
“Supper will be ready soon, why don’t you get a bath, you’re awful sweaty and dirty.” She said, as Mick shrugged looking down at the pine needles, dirt, and sweat on his grey tee.   
He walked to his room, grabbing some clothes, then looked at the phone on his desk. He picked it up, and quickly dialed Jerren’s number in a fit of excitement. He didn’t miss a beat as soon as Jerren answered. “Jerren, you’re not going to believe this. I think that I have super powers. I’ll show you when we hang out. Yeah. It’s crazy. See you soon.” Mick said, hanging up the phone, then slipping into the bathroom across the hall to take a quick shower. 

Weeks went by, as he spent the last of his summer vacation with his best friends Jarren and Davis. The trio had made Jerren’s house their summer hangout. “So, is it true, you have some kind of powers, or are you guys just screwing with me?” Davis asked as Jerren smiled.   
“I’m telling you dude, it’s pretty cool. Wait ’til Mom’s asleep and we’ll show you. Mick’s been pretty strict on keeping it a secret from everyone.” Jerren said as Mick shook his head.  
“I’ll believe it when I see it.” Davis remarked as they walked to Jerren’s room to get in a few rounds of Super Smash Bros. Melee.   
Mick was glad he’d gotten control of the strength, after breaking two of his old controllers in frustration, and having to beg his mom to replace them.

Night came quickly as the boys lost themselves playing games. They quietly crept through the house, slipping out the back door into the humid nighttime air. Mick walked over to the large oak tree in the back yard. “Check this out.” Mick said stretching his hands out popping his fingers, then climbed up eight foot into the tree.   
“No way. You’re just screwing with me! I can climb that too!” Davis said as he attempted to climb the tree, failing to find a foothold, or a way to get a grip on it at all.   
“Nope, not messing with you, this is real! It’s some Captain America kind of stuff!” Mick said, swinging down on the branch he sat on, then dropping, landing next to Davis.   
“When did this happen, and how?” Davis stuttered in disbelief.   
“It happened on our last camping trip, some crazy freak bit me, three days in the hospital and now here I am.” Mick said as Davis shook his head while Jerren laughed.   
“I’ve also got some pretty wicked strength, and that’s the one that’s a pain. I’ve broke a lot of things trying to get the hang of it. Then there’s this.” Mick held out his hands, as the webbing tattoo shimmered in the light of the full moon. Davis looked along with Jerren, “I don’t know what these do, but it sure looks neat when light hit’s them.” Mick remarked as Davis and Jerren nodded.   
“Have you shown anyone else? Are you going to be a super hero or something?” Davis asked with excitement as the boys walked back towards the house.   
“No, you two are the only ones who know. I don’t intend on telling anyone else. It’s not like we have a way to get out and do anything. Plus, it’s not like it’s a comic book or something, villains and powers don’t just fall out of the sky.”   
“Well, one did, but you said he’s captured or something.” Jerren interrupted.  
“Okay, so that one did, but we’ve lived here all our lives and nothing crazy has ever happened. I mean, even Captain America only fought Nazi’s. Things like Batman and Superman are just comics, it would be cool, but it’ll never happen.” Mick said as Davis shrugged.   
“It sucks that you have to start band camp Monday. Guess we better enjoy the weekend while we can.” Jerren said closing the door behind them. 

The last few days of summer blew by, and band camp passed without a hitch, and now the three boys stood in the commons area of Denham Springs Freshman High ready to start this new chapter of their lives. Mick’s mind whirled as other students passed him by, as Davis looked at him confused. “You alright, bud?” He asked.   
“It’s like my nerves are on edge, as if something is going to happen, or someone is going to attack me. That weird feeling is just going crazy.” Mick said running his hand through his hair.   
“It’s just your nerves, you’ll be alright.” Jerren said patting Mick on the shoulder, as an image flashed before Mick’s eyes. He watched as Arachnid, looking more monstrous than before, ripping his way through guards trying to escape from the narrow hallways he was confined to. The image faded as Mick crumbled to his knees, his fear crippling him, as Jerren and Davis caught him, easing him down.   
“He’s coming for me.” Mick said horrified, his body trembling.   
“Who is?” Jerren asked softly.  
“Arachnid, and he’s not going to stop until he finds me.” Mick said as the bell rang, echoing through the commons area.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3:

As soon as Mick hopped off the bus, he ran to his room, frantically looking for Mr. Coulson’s card that he had poached from his mom’s purse. He quickly dialed the number, his heart racing as the phone rang. “This is Coulson, and you are?” Mick let out a sigh of relief at his voice.  
“This is Mick, remember the kid who was attacked by the bear in Mississippi?”  
“Oh, yeah, you. Is everything ok? You sound worried.”  
“Um, is there any way you can come here and meet with me? There’s something you should know.”  
“Let me guess, you have some kind of powers or something?” Mick gasped as Coulson laughed.  
“You think that’s funny?” Mick asked rather annoyed.  
“If you only knew what kind of things I deal with on a daily basis, you’d see what’s so funny.”  
“Yeah well, if this were happening to you, you wouldn’t think it was too funny.” Mick said bitterly.  
“Everyone has to go through those changes kid, it’s part of growing up, now unless you have any real problems-“  
“I do have powers Coulson, turns out that bite from Arachnid gave me powers, and I saw him. He was hunting for me. Please tell me you still have him captured.” Micks voice was shaking, as silence came from the other end. “Agent Coulson?”  
“Sit tight, I’ll get out there as soon as I can. Something just came up, I’ll find you when I get there.” Mick wondered what Coulson was working on, as he sounded very distracted, and a little winded, as the line cut off. 

Mick fell backwards on his bed, as the water swished back and forth, lulling him into sense of security. “I hope it’s just some kind of nightmare, I don’t know what I’d do if he really is coming.” Mick thought to himself closing his eyes, drifting off to sleep. 

A few weeks passed, with no word from Coulson, the nightmares were getting more consistent, and homecoming game was easing closer. The school was buzzing with excitement over the upcoming dance, while Mick was slowly being consumed by fear. “Dude, come on, you’ve got to go to the first homecoming dance of our high school career! Just think of what people will say!” Davis insisted in an exaggerated fashion.  
“I don’t even have a date.” Mick argued as Davis shrugged.  
“Come on, even Jerren’s going!” Davis insisted, as Jerren laughed.  
“Don’t bring me into this mess! You both know I’m not going. I’m not into social gatherings.” Jerren said as Davis rolled his eyes.  
“Fine, if it means that much to you, I’ll go to the stupid dance. I’ll just go solo.” Mick said as Jerren laughed at Mick’s failing resolve.  
“Why don’t you ask Laynie? I’ve seen the way you look at her!” Davis teased making kissy faces as Mick glared at him furiously as the bell rang. 

Mick walked slowly to the band room, debating on whether he should really ask Laynie or not. As he unpacked his trumpet, he listened to his classmates excitement over homecoming. He brushed off the excitement, figuring that he was going to be at the dance alone anyway. After band class was biology, as he walked across the commons, his nerves gripped him. He took his seat beside Laynie, his heart racing, as his friend Casey sat in front of him. Casey noticed the look on Mick’s face and laughed. “Want some help Mickey B?” Casey joked as Mick slumped lower in his seat, shaking his head no. Casey laughed, which caught Laynie’s attention, as she looked between both Mick and Casey curiously.  
“Are you feeling ok, do I need to get the teacher?” She asked Mick, who blushed, shaking his head embarrassed.  
“N-no. I’m fine. I just, well-“  
“Do you have a date for Homecoming yet?” Casey interrupted as Laynie shook her head no, surprising them both. “Would you like to go with Mick then?”  
“Only if he asked me.” She said as Mick’s eyes widened with confusion and excitement.  
“Well, do you want to go with me then?” Mick barely choked out as Laynie giggled, and nodded.  
“Sure, we can do that. I’ll get you my number after class.” She said turning around as the tardy bell rang. 

In the middle of class, Mick had another vision of the monstrous Arachnid, now with four arms, ripping doors off of a building, and attacking the people inside. Mick gasped catching everyone’s attention. “Mr. Bellouve, are you ok?” Mrs. Layman asked as Mick tried to calm the fear that was consuming him.  
“Can I go to the restroom?” He asked, as he felt the cold sweat dripping down his face.  
“Yes, don’t forget the hall pass.” She said nicely, as Mick walked to the white board, with the rest of the class watching his every movement, grabbing the hall pass, then he slipped out the door. 

Mick walked into the restroom looking at his pale face in the mirror. He started running water, cupping it, then washing his face. His hair fell into his face as he slumped down next to the sink. “Coulson, I need you to get here soon. These visions are getting worse. Something’s got to be up. They’re cool when I can react to them, but this, this I can’t react to. Not without people thinking I’m crazy.” Mick thought to himself in the silence. His fears were relentless, as he tried to pull himself up off the ground.  
“You alright, man?” Casey’s voice startled Mick.  
“Yeah, I’ll be fine, just really bad headaches. I’ll be fine.” Mick said pulling himself up.  
“I didn’t mean to throw you out there like that with Laynie, I just knew you liked her so I thought I’d try to help.” Casey said with sincerity.  
“It’s cool, Davis was bugging me about it, and I was going to see if she was going, eventually. I figured she had a date though, and I’d be going solo.” Mick said, then washed his face again.  
“Cool, I’ll see you back in class.” Casey said leaving Mick alone to his own thoughts. 

The rest of the day went by without a hitch, with Mick being in good spirits about getting a date with his crush, Laynie. Davis and Jerren snickered as well as shot the occasional kissy face at Mick while spent lunch talking with her. He daydreamed the rest of the day until he was called to the office during his english class. The class laughed as Mick was dismissed, teasing how he was in trouble for something. He ignored them, gathering his stuff, then he left the classroom. He walked across the campus wondering just what could be up. As he entered into the office he smiled, seeing Mr. Coulson standing by the the desk. “Hey kid, your mom gave me permission to check you out, ready to go?” Coulson asked, with Mick nodding. “Good, let’s get going, we’ve got stuff to do!” He said with a smirk.  
They walked out to a large black SUV, and Mick looked curiously at Coulson, “Couldn’t find anything more flashy huh?” Mick sneered.  
“Oh I could, but Lola is in the shop right now, she needed a few upgrades.” Coulson said cooly, as they climbed into the car. “Sorry I couldn’t get here sooner, I’ve been pretty busy.”  
“It’s fine.” Mick said gathering the nerve to explain to Coulson what’s been going on.  
“What kind of powers do you have?” Coulson stated bluntly, catching Mick off guard.  
“Strength, grip that let me climb anything, and this weird almost warning sense, that makes me seem like I have good reflexes. The football coach loves it, because he says I’d make a great football player if I’d try out.” Mick said glumly. “Also, these weird web tattoo’s, I don’t know what they do though, they’re just kind of there.” Mick pulled up the black sweatband on his left arm, as the tattoo glimmered in the sunlight.  
“That’s neat, so you basically have powers similar to Arachnid, minus the web shooters, unless that’s what those marks are for. Clearly you’re keeping it to yourself, as you’re not on my work radar.” Coulson said with a chuckle.  
“I only told my two best friends, and they’re keeping it a secret. I’ve got no real reason to show off my powers anyway. Wait a second, your work radar? What exactly do you do?” Mick asked curiously as Coulson shook his head.  
“Paperwork, a lot of paperwork, and occasionally I get to go out in the field and talk to people.” Coulson said as Mick rolled his eyes.  
“Is Arachnid still in custody?” Mick asked bluntly, as the visions haunted him again.  
“We’re working on it.”  
“What do you mean you’re working on it?” Mick said hitting the dashboard furiously.  
“It’s complicated, but we’re handling it.” Coulson’s voice was calming, despite the annoyance at Mick’s fists now imprinted into the dashboard.  
“He’s hunting me Coulson, I’ve seen it in my head. He’s lost his mind, and now he’s killing anyone in his path to get me.” Mick said as the fear crept into his voice.  
“Look, we’ll have agents watching for him. You’re going to be fine.” Coulson tried to reassure Mick, who was beyond consolable.  
“I hope you’re right.” Mick said as they pulled up at his house.  
“Here, take this phone, we’ll be in touch.” Coulson said, handing Mick a silver flip phone.  
“Mom’s going to be mad that I have this.” He said with a chuckle.  
“Don’t get the wrong idea. It can only call me.” Coulson said smirking, causing Mick to roll his eyes.  
“Just curious, should I make a costume? I thought it would be kind of cool, since Captain America had one, as cheesy as it was.” Mick asked as Coulson laughed.  
“Captain America was a special, that costume wasn’t for war, but for selling bonds.” Coulson said giddily as Mick shrugged. “Don’t make a spandex suit, trust me, it’s not as comfortable as you think.” Mick’s eyes widened in the horror as of that image of Coulson and spandex shot through his mind.  
“Ick. Why would you even suggest that you’ve worn that?” Mick said disgusted.  
“It was the eighties, we all made bad choices in fashion.” Coulson laughed as Mick laughed, looking at the ground.  
“Thanks for the extra time off, and meeting with me. I really needed that.” Mick said smiling as Coulson nodded.  
“Get some rest, do your homework, focus on that dance and your date, we’ve got you covered.” Coulson said smoothly backing out the the driveway, leaving Mick feeling reassured, yet confused how Coulson knew about the dance, much less his date. 

He unlocked the door, spinning his one shouldered backpack so that he could see inside, reaching in for his sketch pad. He thumbed through it, pausing at a drawing, a costume he had been working on throughout the day. It was a long sleeved navy blue hoodie with a red spider on the chest, who’s legs reached up to the shoulders and down to the rim of the shirt, as well as a pair of dark bluejeans. He considered actually painting the red spider emblem on his navy hoodie that was in his closet. “Just how am I going to cover my face though? Maybe a large beanie?” He chuckled as he thought how ridiculous that would look. “Eh, why not, I’ve got a couple hours to kill.” He thought pulling the hoodie from his closet, then walking out the back door to his fathers paint shed.  
As he looked over the newly painted hoodie, he was surprised at how well it came out. He then left it sitting on the deck by the pool, to search for a solution for the mask in his parent’s room. After a little digging in the top of the closet, he found a large black painters mask. “This’ll do.” He said sliding it over his face. It was hard to see, so he pulled it off, wondering how he could fix this situation.  
He walked into the living room, looking in his Mom’s desk drawers, and grabbing her scissors. He then walked to the bathroom, sliding the mask back over his face, he very carefully cut out eye holes. After looking in the mirror at how silly it looked, he grabbed a pair of lightly tinted sunglasses, from his dresser, sliding the temples inside the temples into the mask, he returned to the bathroom mirror, shrugging in approval. He then changed out of his school uniform into a white tee and his dark bluejeans. He stitched the temples of the sunglasses so they couldn’t fall off or out of the mask, then walked outside to check on his hoodie. He leaned down, lightly touching the paint on the spider to see it was dry. “Now, long sleeves in this heat is going to suck, but, let’s take it for a test drive.” He thought slipping into the hoodie, and not surprisingly, it was very hot. He composed himself as he climbed on the oak tree in his back yard up to a branch large enough to run on.  
He ran across, then jumped to the pine tree close by, as his wrist began to tremble. He latched onto the tree, then pulled his sleeve up and flicking his wrist to pop it. Just then a string of web launched out, leaving Mick confused and amazed. “Oh this is going to be fun!” He said flicking his wrist as a stream of webs shot out hitting another pine that was close. Mick pulled on it, making sure it was tightly gripped, then jumped, holding tightly, feeling the wind rushing as he swung, using his weight to shift just passed the tree until the web his a branch, snapping it. He quickly shot another web, hitting a branch, swinging towards another pine, then letting go of the web, catching himself on the tree. He paused, seeing how he was now three houses behind his back yard, and pretty close to the woods in the back of his neighborhood. He then used webs to swing across the trees in to reach the woods, amazed at this newly discovered power. He paused once he reached deep in the woods, sitting on a branch pulling the hood off, and wiping the sweat from his face. “This is incredible.” He smiled, as he heard the school bus in the distance. “Better get back home before Mom get’s home.” He said as he slid the mask back on his face, then swung through the tree’s enjoying every second. 

As he walked in the back door, he pulled off the hoodie and the mask, the cold air from the AC hit him, giving him a chill. He then looked down at his wrist and the two web tattoos, then back up across the bar to see a reflection pass in front the window. He walked slowly to his room, stuffing the hoodie in his closet, with the mask in the pocket. The front door opened as he quickly posed himself on his bed, pulling out his school books, and trying his hair on his shirt, which was also covered in sweat. His mom walked in checking on him, staring at him with confusion, then shook her head as if she didn’t want to know. Mick chuckled as she walked away, as he threw his books back in his book sack, instead pulling out Laynie’s number. “She should be home by now.” He thought as he dialed the number.


	4. Chapter 4

After a week of planning and conversations with Laynie, Davis, Emily, Jerren, and Alice, despite Jerren begging to not have to go; Homecoming plans were going smoothly, all that was left was to make it through the morning. Mick ended up staying with Jerren and Davis after the horrible defeat of a football game Friday night, Mrs. Bennet had them up early so that they could get pictures taken all dressed up. Davis and Mick’s moms showed up, making the whole picture taking that much worse, with their loving grown up comments. After suffering through an hour of pictures with just the three of them, the girls called, saying they were ready, and that their moms wanted pictures of everyone together before the dance.   
The boys split up with their moms, each going to pick up their date. Mick was nervous, because despite how many times he tried to tell himself that Laynie and he were going as just friends, he couldn’t help but hope they could end up as more. It didn’t help that when he saw her, she took his breath away. Her brunette hair, weaved into half up, and half down ponytail, with long curls, the sparkling blue dress with silver shoes, everything about her was radiant, and he couldn’t help but smile. “You- wow.” He mumbled as she laughed.   
“Look how pretty!” Mick’s mom exclaimed, snapping pictures beside Laynie’s mom. “Come on, stand together! Act like you like each other!” She continued as Mick blushed, trying to hide behind his now falling hair.   
“Are you ok? You seem pretty nervous.” Laynie said calmly as Mick nodded with a deep breath.   
“I’ll be fine, it’s just hot, and you, and yeah. I’m fine.” He stuttered through his nerves and Laynie giggled.   
“Big hug, smiles!” Laynie’s mom said, as Laynie’s dad walked out, rubbing his finger across his throat, staring straight at Mick, who gulped.   
“Be nice Dad, he’s just a friend.” Laynie said sternly as her dad smiled.   
“I was just your Mom’s friend once too. I know that story.” He said not taking his eyes of Mick.   
“You don’t have to worry about me, not only would Laynie kill me for doing anything stupid, if I survived, my Mom would kill me, and whatever’s left would be brought to you, Sir.” Mick said, trying to joke as Laynie’s dad laughed.   
“You two ready to go meet up with the others and get pictures?” Mick’s mom said as Laynie’s mom and dad hugged her.   
“Yes Ma’am.” Laynie said with a smile, then Mick walked her to the green Lumina, opening the door for her.   
“He even cleaned out the car for this!” His mom said, as Laynie laughed, climbing in carefully.   
Mick closed the door and started walking around, as Laynie’s dad stopped him. “Treat her nice, and keep her safe.” He said handing Mick a twenty dollar bill.   
“I will.” Mick said with a serious tone in his voice, then climbed into the car. 

They spent another two hours taking pictures by the capital building in downtown Baton Rouge, before heading back to Denham. The three moms had made reservations for everyone to eat at a small seafood restaurant, with a large table for the kids, and one for them. Turns out, there were a handful of others there with the same plans. “Good thing I reserved this Monday, I’d hate to be stuck waiting.” Davis’ mom said as they followed the hostess to their tables. After another hour or so, they left for the school.   
“You two have fun!” Mick’s mom said as Mick slipped out the car, walking around to open the door for Laynie.   
“We will!” Laynie said smiling, as Mick pulled out a backpack out with him.   
“What time do you want me to pick you up?” His mom asked as Mick looked at her confused.   
“We’re all going to Jerren’s remember? Davis and Em are riding with his cousin Les, and we’re going to ride with Jerren’s mom.” He said as his mom looked at him with a big smile.   
“You better behave. I love you, but I’ll kill you too.” She said with the most sincerity he’d ever heard.   
“Don’t worry, we’re seriously just friends, this might even be a pity date kind of thing, you know.” Mick tried reassuring her as she rolled her eyes with a smile, then drove off.  
Mick walked over to Laynie who was waiting patiently under the metal awning by the high school cafeteria. He paused, as a vision of Arachnid appeared in his head. He watched as the monster ripped the doors off the building, slinging them inside, hitting students, while others ran in fear. He shot webs from two of his four arms, wrapping up students as his tongue danced around his fangs, which had grown larger. He snapped back to reality, with Laynie holding his head as he lay on the ground. “You sure you’re ok?” She asked deeply concerned.   
He let out a heavy sigh, as he rubbed his head, acting as if he were in pain, rather than scared out of his mind. “Yeah, I know, it seems like this happens often, but I’m fine, really.” Mick tried reassuring her, as he reached down, touching the phone Coulson gave him through his pocket. His heart raced as he stood up, opening the door leading Laynie into the dance. 

Davis and Jerren walked in a few minutes later with their dates on their arms, along with countless other students, filling up the cafeteria. “We’re gonna go to the restroom for a sec to touch up, wanna come?” Emily asked looking at Laynie.   
“Yeah, my lipstick could use a touch up.” Laynie said she winked at Mick, following Alice and Emily away.   
“You look like you just saw death.” Davis said looking at the backpack at Mick’s feet.   
“I did, and I’m pretty sure he’s coming here.” Mick said picking up the backpack, and unzipping it.   
“You didn’t make a costume, did you?” Jerren asked with heavy disapproval in his voice.   
“He did.” Davis said with a chuckle as Mick showed them the sweatshirt and and Mask combo.   
“I only brought it so no one knows it’s me if that lunatic monster shows up tonight. Plus, I need to do something, tell Laynie I went to the bathroom or something if I’m not back before they get back.” Mick said stuffing the clothes back into the bag.   
“Dude, they’re going rate our appearance and play with make up, you’ve got plenty of time.” Davis said with a chuckle, as Mick walked outside. 

He pulled the phone out, walking towards the football stadium, dialing and putting the phone to his ear. “Yeah, I just saw another vision. Do you have a team near the school?” Mick’s voice trembled.  
“If he shows up, we should be able to handle it. You go enjoy your date. She looks nice by the way, and you clean up pretty nice yourself.” Coulson said as Mick pulled the phone away from his ear, looking around in the dusk light for any signs of Coulson.   
“Thanks, I guess?” Mick said giving up as he didn’t see anything out of the ordinary.   
“Go, we’ve got this, you just need to relax and have fun, but not too much fun, though.” Coulson said, as Mick rolled his eyes.   
“Deal. I’m going back inside now.” Mick said closing the phone as walking back towards the cafeteria doors. He walked in to see Laynie standing beside his friends, as his heart seemed to skip a beat, he wanted to stay in this moment as long as he possibly could. He looked at her with a smile as a slow song began to play, “Do you want to-”   
“I’d love to.” She interrupted, taking him by the hand walking out into the crowded dance floor. She paused, placing his hands on her hips, and hers around his neck, slowly getting him to come out of his shell, and dance. Time seemed to slowed as the danced for what seemed like eternity, until the magic was shattered. Screaming rang from outside, as Mick looked towards the door.   
“Run, now!” Mick said as Laynie stared at him confused.   
The metal on the doors made a terrible squeal as they were crushed down, the wall crumbled down with them, as Mick’s worst nightmares came true. There he was, Arachnid, four arms, large fangs, and murderous red eyes. People were frantically trying to escape the cafeteria, as Mick lead Laynie to a table where Jerren and Davis had their dates crouched. “Take her and get out of here, I’ll buy you time to escape.” Mick said sternly as people dropped to the ground around them, wrapped tightly in webs.   
“What about you?” Laynie asked as Mick grabbed the backpack, unzipping it quickly.   
“I’ll be fine, I’ll meet you guys in the commons at the freshman high, now go!” Mick said as Davis grabbed Laynie’s hand, pulling her into the crowd of fleeing students.  
“Hey ugly, didn’t anyone tell you that it’s a student only dance.” Mick said, with the hoodie and mask on, pulling Arachnid’s focus from the fleeing students.   
“There’s always one brave fool.” Arachnid said calmly, tilting his head looking at the spider emblem on Mick’s chest. “But, then again, none like you. I believe you’re the one I’m looking for.” He said, slinging the two metal doors at him.   
Mick shot webs, catching them, and slung them back, knocking Arachnid through the opening he created, then ran as fast as he could to make sure no one else could get hurt. Arachnid jumped to his feet, launching webs at Mick from all four arms, with Mick narrowly dodging them, with acrobatics that surprised himself, landing crouched with one arm in front of him, and the other behind him for balance. “So, this is what happens when someone survives? I bet your blood taste even sweeter now.” Arachnid taunted walking slowly towards Mick.   
“I’d rather not find out, I tend to like my blood inside my body, not outside.” Mick remarked as Arachnid lunged, his reactions weren’t fast enough, as Arachnid grabbed his leg, pulling it from under him, slamming him into the ground, knocking the wind out of Mick, then pinning his arms down with his other two hands.   
Mick struggled to push his legs between him and Arachnid, as Arachnid pushed closer, and Mick’s legs pressed down onto his chest. “Now, I’ll finish what I started.” Arachnid roared as a gunshot echoed, and a blue pulse flashed around him.   
“No mean’s no, didn’t your mother ever teach you manners?” Coulson said pointing a pistol at Arachnid, who seemed paralyzed, as Mick shoved him from the top of him.   
Mick barely had time to move before a web blasted Coulson backwards wrapping around him. “I’m not finished with you!” Arachnid screamed leaping at Mick. Mick moved faster than he ever had as adrenalin surged through his body, jumping backwards just out of Arachnid’s reach, then webbing him in the face. Arachnid’s arms tore at the web, as Mick shot more, as he walked closer, then, as Arachnid pulled the web off, Mick slugged him as hard as he could, sending Arachnid flying through the brick wall of the band room. He ran in, leaping and punching down on the staggering Arachnid, who cracked the concrete floor with the impact of his body.   
Mick stood over Arachnid, seeing blood pouring from the gashes on his body from the broken wall, as he wanted to keep punching, to take every ounce of fear Mick had and beat it into Arachnid, every bit of anger he had for Arachnid ruining his night with Laynie, and revenge for everyone Arachnid ever hurt. He wanted so badly to smash his face in, but he let out a heave sigh, webbing the unconscious Arachnid to the ground, leaving him to go check on Coulson. 

Mick ripped the webbing from Coulson and helped him up, as Coulson nodded. “That was intense huh?” Coulson’s voice was a suave as ever.   
“Yeah, not how I wanted to spend my homecoming.” Mick said as Coulson stared at the emblem on the shirt.   
“Let me guess, Spider-Boy, Human Spider, Arachni-Kid-“   
“I was thinking Venom.” Mick interrupted as Coulson shook his head in disapproval. “Then what would you suggest, maybe something deadly, like Black Widow!”   
“Sorry, that’s taken, and trust me, you don’t want to fight her for that name.” Coulson said as Mick sighed. “You could go by Brown Recluse, if you want to be named after a spider, but me I’d probably go something simple, like Spider-Man.” Coulson joked as Mick shrugged.   
“Maybe just Recluse, that sounds cool to me.” Mick said, reaching to pull of his mask, as Coulson stopped him, pointing at the crowd of people standing in front of the cafeteria, staring at them.   
“I’ll handle this, you get out of here before the press shows up, that’s probably the last thing you need right now.” Coulson said, reaching into his pocket, pulling out his wallet. “I’m sorry, I’m going to have to ask you all to leave, this is a crime scene!”   
“Who’s that guy in the mask? What was that creature that attacked us?” Various voices yelled as Mick sighed, running towards the front of the school, leaving Coulson to deal with them.   
He ran to the side of the Jacket Gym, hearing sirens blaring, climbed up the side of the building to get a better look. The cops were all around the cafeteria, as well as the focus on Coulson. He could see a few people looking his direction and pointing, so he thought it best to jump down, run, and hope for the best. He crept his way around the office of the freshman high, as he heard his friends talking.   
“Did you see that guy in the mask throw the doors back at that monster! That was so cool!” Emily said, as Davis agreed.   
“I wonder who that was? Seemed like they must’ve been at the dance!” Alice said excitement filling her voice.   
“Never know. Guess that’s the point of the mask.” Jerren said as Mick laughed.   
“Mick, is that you?” Laynie said running to the side of the building.   
“Yeah, told you I’d meet you over here.” Mick said as everyone walked over. Jerren and Davis stared in horror as the girls had a look of amazement plastered on their faces. “Why are you staring at me like that?” He asked as Jerren and Davis motioned towards their face. Mick’s heart sunk. Now six people knew his secret.   
He sighed, realizing he forgot to take off his shirt and mask. “You have super powers.” Laynie said in shock.   
“Guess the cat’s out of the bag.” Mick responded pulling the mask off his face.   
“Omygosh! That’s so cool! We know a superhero!” Emily squeaked as Davis tried to hush her.   
“It would be you, wouldn’t it.” Alice said in disapproval.   
“Look, you can’t tell anyone. This is stupid important.” Mick said sternly, as Laynie continued staring at him in shock.   
“Fine, the secret is safe with us.” Alice said as Emily nodded.   
“Laynie, say something! Are you mad at me, what’s going through your head?” Mick said worried as she shook her head, taking her eyes off him for a brief second, then wrapping her arms around him.   
“You could’ve gotten hurt, or worse, died!” She fussed slamming her fists into his chest.   
“But I didn’t. I’m standing right here, and I’m fine.” Mick said as she stopped hitting him, leaning her head into his chest, sobbing softly. “We need to get out of here before the reporters show up. Coulson can only do so much by himself.” Mick suggested as they started walking to the neighborhood behind the school.   
“Who’s Coulson?” Davis asked as Mick laughed.   
“He works for the government. Strategic homeland something or other. It’s a ridiculously long name, and he makes sure people like me stay secret. That’s all I know.” Mick said as Laynie grabbed his hand.   
“You might want to take that hoodie off before someone see’s it.” She said as Mick nodded, pulling off the hoodie, tying it around his waist so that no one could see the spider emblem.  
“So what’s your hero name then?” Alice asked nonchalantly.   
“Recluse.” Mick replied as Jerren and Davis chuckled.   
“I pegged you more Webman or something like that.” Davis responded as everyone laughed.   
“Recluse sounds much better than that. Please don’t go by Webman.” Laynie said, laughing along with everyone, as they walked down the sidewalk towards the Antique District.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: 

Three weeks passed, as rumors and stories of the hero known as Recluse spread around like wildfire. Mick kept his mouth shut as directed by Coulson, who kept saying they needed to debrief as soon as everything died down. School ended up feeling like a second with people from the media fishing for interviews with students, even the school paper wanted to talk to everyone who was at the homecoming dance, but not everything was happy. Three students lost their lives, and one was hospitalized, not to mention the agents that died from Coulson’s team.   
“Hey, you were at the dance weren’t you?” A female student said pulling Mick from the fantasies in his head.   
“Uh, yeah. What about it?” Mick said slightly annoyed.   
“Did you see the guy they’re calling Recluse, or the four armed monster? Did you know anyone who died or got hurt?” She asked holding a pen and note pad eagerly waiting for an answer.   
“No, I ran out with my friends as soon as we heard the screaming outside.” Mick lied, which had sadly become a second nature to him when it came to the events from that night.   
“Aww, that’s lame. Good for you, but doesn’t make for a good story.” She said frowning, walking away.   
“Yeah, if you only knew the truth.” Mick muttered under his breath, thinking about all the people he’s lied to about that night. After Davis’ cousin Les picked them up from the Antique District, they had to face the million questions from Mrs. Bennet, who heard about the attack on the police scanner they had in the computer room. Then, after getting questioned the whole ride to Laynie’s by his own mom, they had to face more from Laynie’s parents. Mick sighed as he walked to his seventh hour class, ready for the day to be over, and people to escape into the woods behind his neighborhood. 

“Hey scout, you look really tired.” Laynie said, sneaking up behind Mick.   
“Oh I am, mainly of everyone’s hype though. It’d be different if seeing Recluse was a more common occurrence, but all he did was show up at homecoming.” Mick said as Laynie gave him a pity smile.   
“You know it was more than that for this little town. To know they have someone with powers, protecting them, and a student! That’s a huge deal.” She tried to reassure him.   
“Yeah, I guess. It’s probably just bumming me out because of, well, you know.” Mick said alluding to his secret.   
“So humor me then, what would you do if it were you?” She asked winking as they passed a few students.   
“I think I’d snap, cause everyone wouldn’t ever leave me alone.”   
“Then be glad it’s not you, and let them talk.” She smiled as Mick nodded. 

“Call you after school?” Mick asked as Laynie smiled. They hadn’t really become a couple, just better friends. Laynie was afraid that Mick could end up getting hurt if something like Arachnid ever happened again, and Mick agreed with her. He was more concerned with someone finding out and hurting her though, or any of his friends. Dating just was going to be a very complicated thing, if he ever became a full time hero. 

Mick climbed off the bus to see Coulson’s large black SUV parked in his driveway. On one hand, he was glad to see Coulson, on the other, he really wanted to get away from everything. Coulson stepped out of the vehicle, with a grave look on his face. “We need to get you out of here, the boss would like a word with you and your friends, and we really don’t have a lot of time to argue, tight schedule and all.” Coulson said opening the door for Mick.   
“Doesn’t sound like I get a choice, has something changed? Do I need my costume?” Mick asked hesitating as Coulson shook his head, walking around the car.   
“No time for that. Don’t worry, Director Fury will fill you in.” Coulson said in a soothing fashion.  
“Director Fury? Sounds pretty intimidating.” Mick responded, slouching in his seat.   
“Oh he his. Just make sure you don’t stare at the eye patch.” Coulson said, causing Mick to stare at him in awe.   
“Did you say eye patch? Like he’s missing an eye?”   
“Yeah, I would advise not asking about it too. As a matter of fact, I’d advise you not ask any questions. He’s not in a very good mood today.” Coulson responded, as Mick slumped back in his chair, imagining a big scary guy with an eyepatch and a suit. 

The car stopped, waking Mick from his short nap, as he looked around to try and figure out where he was. The parking garage was almost empty, minus the seven other black SUV’s. “So everyone is here?” Mick asked looking over at Coulson, who nodded, walking towards an SUV with a large, barely visible bird like symbol on it.   
“Wait here. Your friends should be over here in a second.” Coulson said rigidly, leaving Mick about twenty feet away from the SUV. Other agents walked up with Mick’s friends beside them, as they all shared a confused and concerned look. Mick looked back at the SUV, to see a tall black man, with an eyepatch on his left eye, dressed in all black with a leather coat stepping out.   
“Which one is our little hero?” The man said looking at the six teens.   
Mick stepped forward as the large man smiled. “My name is-“  
“You’re Mick Bellouve, otherwise known as the Recluse, am I right?” The man said, his voice intimidating Mick to respond with a nod. “I’m Nick Fury, it’s my job to keep tabs on the things that make people uncomfortable, like superpowers, or war criminals, and those things that go bump in the night.”   
Mick simply nodded, as he tried to avoid staring at the scar the led into Mr. Fury’s eye patch, much less making eye contact in general. “So does that mean I’m in trouble then?” Mick mumbled as Coulson shook his head with a disapproving smile.   
“Not really. I’m doing my best to keep you out of the spotlight, but some reporters are making that job rather difficult. Turns out, someone found some of your blood on the broken bricks at the high school.” Nick Fury said sounding agitated.   
“How do they know it’s mine, and what does that have to do with my friends?” Mick asked, then winced knowing that Coulson was going to lecture him on the way home.   
“Glad you asked. It involves you, because we know it’s your blood. It involves them, because they know your secret.” He paused as Mick nodded with a frown. “All I need from them is to sign these papers. It’s a non-disclosure agreement. Normally you wouldn’t sign this until your of age, but we had to make exceptions for you six.” Nick Fury finished as a slim lady, with brunette hair walked up from seemingly nowhere, holding out six clipboards with papers attached.   
“I’m sorry, but how could they figure out who’s blood it is without being able to match it to another sample?” Jerren pipped up as he signed the clipboard.   
“That’s a good question, one I’m working on the answer to as we speak. Unless someone saw him, and can identify him, they have no leads, and must be bluffing. Unfortunately, bluffs in my line of work are rare.” Nick Fury stated as he locked eyes with Mick. “And as for you, how would you like a real hero suit, that maybe doesn’t run the risk of giving you a heat stroke?” Mick looked intrigued, glancing between Coulson, who had a crooked smile, and Mr. Fury.   
“Coulson told me about your make shift costume, and after feeling the heat in what’s supposed to be fall, we decided to get you something that will be a little more comfortable.” Nick Fury opened the hatch to see a suitcase with a small red and blue spider logo, similar to the one painted on his sweatshirt. He quickly popped the suitcase revealing a thin blue shirt, with matching pants, and red gloves and boots.   
“It looks kind of like spandex.” Mick said without thinking.   
“It’s not. It’s a very fine fabric, that’s very durable, and not nearly as form fitting in the pants.” Coulson said smirking, as Mick reached over, feeling just how soft the fabric was.   
“Nice. What’s the catch?” Mick asked, as usually people were only nice like this when there was a deal to be made in the movies he’d seen.   
“Just keep your mouth shut about your secret identity, and we’ll do our part to keep any sketchy people from finding out who you are.” Mr. Fury said, closing the suitcase, then handing it to Mick.   
“Director, we have a meeting with the agency in New Orleans. I hear traffic is nightmarish in the evenings, and we don’t want to be late.” The lady said, her voice smoothly, making Mick think it must be an agency thing.   
“Thank you Miss Hill. We’ll be in touch.” Mr. Fury said walking back to the SUV, leaving Coulson and the other agents alone with the teens. 

“He was in a better mood than I thought.” Coulson said with a chuckle as Mick looked away.   
“I know, you said no questions, sorry.” Mick said.  
“I didn’t find your questions out of line, so it’s fine.” Coulson smirked as Mick turned back to his friends.   
“Sorry I got you involved in all of this.” Mick said glumly.   
“No problem man, we’ve got your back.” Davis said with a smile, as everyone nodded in agreement.   
“Good, now, we need to get you all home from your after school meeting, before your parents start to worry.” Coulson said as the teens waved goodbye, following the agents that stood behind them to their respective SUV’s.   
“Does this mean I’m a hero like Captain America now?” Mick asked as Coulson cranked the vehicle.  
“Not exactly. You’re fighting skills leave a lot to be desired. What would you say to coming up to New York and doing a self defense course with our new batch of agents?” Coulson asked as Mick couldn’t hide his excitement.  
“I’m all game for that, when would I be going?” Mick beamed.  
“It’ll be over Christmas break, I’ll run it by your parents, it’ll be under the guise of a school trip or something. I’ll figure out the details later.” Coulson trailing off in thought. “And yes, you’re going to need that suit. We don’t want anyone else finding out who you are.” Mick smiled, as he rubbed the spider logo on the suitcase.   
“Deal.” Mick said with a smile, as they drove off.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6:

With the first semester of school coming to a close, Mick told his friends about his vacation to New York. Davis was a little jealous, as well Jerren was sad they wouldn’t be doing their usual two week marathon of gaming. Although Mick and Laynie had been drifting apart, she was still sad that he was leaving, even if they couldn’t work out romantically, they were determined to still be friends. Classes that day flew by, even better that it was a half day. Once he jumped off the bus, he was met by the black SUV of his favorite secret agent, sitting patiently in the driveway. “Let me guess, you already have my clothes and everything.” Mick said as Coulson stepped out of the vehicle.   
“Actually no, that was a pretty bold move wearing your suit under your uniform. I could hardly notice it.” Coulson said, catching Mick off guard, as he frantically checked before remembering it was in his gym bag.   
“That was mean. I was about to freak out if I mistakenly put that on.” Mick said as he sighed, holding the blue sleeve in his now open gym bag.   
“Just testing you. Do you need to call your mom and tell her you’re leaving?” Coulson asked, following Mick inside the house.   
“I’m actually surprised she’s not here. I’ll call her when we leave.” Mick said folding his suit into the suitcase, and then grabbing his duffle bag. His excitement was tremendous, he was going to be trained in New York by a team of secret agents!   
“You need to hurry, we do have a schedule to keep.” Coulson said, as Mick walked out of his room, seeing Coulson looking at the family pictures on the wall.   
“Let’s go then! I’m so ready to see this cool secret base you work at!” Mick said, with a beaming smile.   
“This training course isn’t going to be easy, Director Fury even thinks you’re going to give up on day one.” Coulson said with a smirk.   
“Why, just because I’m a kid?”   
“No, because he’s hand picked the one training you.” Mick’s eyes widened as Coulson shrugged. “She hasn’t killed any trainee’s,” Coulson paused as Mick looked relieved. “Yet.” Coulson finished as Mick gulped. 

As they arrived at the airport in New Orleans, Coulson lead him through security doors, flashing his badge at every guard that tried to stop him. They stepped out onto the runway, Coulson lead him to a small hanger just off the airport, labeled Hanger 54. “From here on, everything you see is top secret, meaning, you cannot tell your friends, no matter how much they ask.” Coulson’s voice was oddly stern.   
“They think I’m going on vacation with my grandparents. I’m trying to separate them from this life, which is easier since I don’t have villains or anything running crazy. It’s crazy how boring a small town like Denham can be when you have superpowers. I mean, my fun is either playing video games, or going back in the woods and swinging through tree’s like Tarzan.” Mick admitted as Coulson chuckled, opening the hangar doors.   
“You should be glad you have time to focus on things like your education and friends. I wish I still had time like that, here lately, between dealing with the new recruits, you, and my own operations, I don’t have time for anything extra.” Coulson said, seemingly reminiscent on recent events.   
“I don’t know, I think I’d enjoy a little fun here and there. Something to give me some use for these powers for. I feel like I’m just wasting my time.” Mick said, as they climbed onto the surprisingly spacious black jet.   
“Have you ever flown before?” Coulson asked, as he walked up to the front of the jet, tapping on the black door.  
“No, this would be the first.” Mick said nervously.  
“Nothing to it, just pick a seat, sit back and relax, we’ll be at HQ in a few hours.” Coulson said as sat down in a rather large recliner near the front, getting unusually comfortable. Mick let out a heavy sigh, as the plane jerked forward. He leaned his seat back, closing his eyes, ready for something new. 

When Mick opened his eyes, the jet had stopped, they were in a large hangar, with people in uniforms that had the same bird logo he had seen before. Coulson walked up behind him, catching him off guard, with his bags and suitcase in hand. “You may want to go ahead and change so no one asks any questions. Oh, and here. It’s a level one badge, it’ll get you in and out of your room, the training room, and cafeteria. Don’t lose it.” He said as Mick nodded, looking at the picture of him in the suit they made for him.   
“When did you take this picture? I don’t remember that.” Mick said as Coulson chuckled.   
“We did that before we gave you the suit. Black Widow is pretty close to your size, so she put on the costume and we snapped the picture for your ID.” Coulson explained as Mick frowned.   
“Black Widow is a girl? Am I going to get to meet her?” Mick said curiously, as Coulson rolled his eyes, opening the spacious changing room door, pointing for Mick to go in.   
“Cool it kid, she could mess you up something fierce before you even know what hit you, hints the code name, Black Widow.” Coulson said as he closed the door to the changing room.   
Mick was intrigued by the idea that a girl could be that strong, he slipped out of his school uniform and into the Recluse suit. He loved wearing it, the fabric was super soft, and very light, which helped when it was hot outside, but it wasn’t the best for cold air, which he brought his and sweatpants to go under it just incase. He stepped out of the changing room, fully dressed, as Coulson saw him in it for the first time. “Not bad. Fits you a lot better than I expected.” He said with a smile.   
“Thanks, I guess.” Mick responded, as Coulson handed him the lanyard with his ID.   
Mick looked over it, “Strategic, Homeland, Intervention, Logistics, Division. So, S.H.I.E.L.D. Why don’t you just call it shield then?” asking as Coulson shook his head with a smile.   
“We don’t talk about it much. You can say we’re a little more secret than any other agency of the government.” Coulson said opening the door of the jet.   
“Clearly. I’d never heard anything about you guys until you saved me.” Mick said following Coulson into the hangar.   
“We like to keep it that way. Usually when we get involved, someone’s done something really bad.” Coulson said with a sense of pride in his voice.   
“This is the Nest, its used mostly for training due to it’s secure location. It also acts as the HQ for upstate New York.” Coulson said, as Mick tried to take in just how huge the building was. The halls were large, with thick metal walls, and no external lights.   
“Are we underground or something? Where is the sunlight?” Mick asked as Coulson chuckled.   
“Mostly, there is an upper wing, but it’s disguised by a farm. You won’t have clearance to get up there. You’re going to be down here for a few days, unless the Director see’s fit for you to leave.” Coulson said as Mick frowned, glad that his face was under a mask. “I can’t tell if you’re happy or sad about this, it’s kind of weird. Anyway, here’s your room, make yourself comfortable, watch some T.V. or something. Training starts when Director Fury gets here.” Coulson swiped his badge over a small screen on the wall. It flashed green, as a small door slid up, revealing a small room with a bed, a desk, and a T.V.   
“Cool, least I don’t have to bunk with anyone.” Mick said as he walked into the room, dropping his bags inside. The door slid closed, leaving him alone, in the small, silent room. He slid the mask up, uncovering his mouth and nose, then took a deep breath. “I can’t believe this is really happening, I’m really at a secret base, getting trained by a secret government organization!” He said with excitement, then dropped back onto the bed. 

A few hours passed, before his door opened, there stood Coulson. “Time for you to show us your stuff, I’ve got a good sparing partner picked out for you. Don’t let the Director watching make you nervous!” Mick pulled his mask back on, then jumped out of the bed, as Coulson lead him to the training room. As intimidating as the expansive hallways were, it was a little easier to walk through this time around. Coulson paused, swiping his badge, when a door opened a room bigger than anything Mick had ever seen! There were agents sparing with each other in different boxing arena’s, with others standing around cheering. Mick was in awe, as Coulson motioned for him to catch up, they walked into a small room with Nick Fury standing by a girl, close to Mick’s age, with red hair up in a ponytail, dressed in a black leather suit.   
Mick glanced between the girl, Nick Fury, and Coulson, confused as to what he’s supposed to do. “This is Natasha Romanoff, she’s one of our youngest agents, and I feel learning her style of combat would do you well.” Coulson said as Mick stood still, tilting his head starting at her.   
“You want me to fight a girl?” Mick said curiously as Nick Fury looked over at Natasha who glared at Mick.   
“Just step into the ring hotshot.” Natasha said, the harshness in her voice intrigued Mick.   
“Good luck.” Nick Fury said as Coulson chuckled, stepping to his side.   
Mick sighed as he stepped into the ring, watching Natasha pop her neck as well as her hands and fingers. “I’m not sure how I feel about hitting a girl.” Mick said glancing towards Coulson, who shrugged. A small bell rang, then Natasha jumped at Mick, swinging her leg behind Mick’s legs sending him crashing to the ground, then slammed her hands into his chest, pinning him to the ground. Mick gasped as Natasha smirked.   
“What’s the matter, don’t have anything else stupid to say?” She taunted, backing up, as Mick tried to catch his breath.  
“Lucky shot. It won’t happen again.” Mick said as they stood in their corners, ready for another round.   
The bell rang, as Mick dodged Natasha’s quick strike by sidestepping her. This was a mistake, as she wrapped her arm around him, and jumped on his shoulders, then flipped them both, crashing on the ground, wrapping her legs around Mick’s neck. She released him after he punched the ground, laughing at his embarrassment and annoyance. “Come on kid, I thought you would be able to at least last ten seconds the way Coulson talked about you.” Mr. Fury taunted as Mick stood up furiously.   
“One more round, I’ll take you out.” Mick said, as Natasha rolled her eyes. The bell rang, as she moved quickly, this time shot webs at the ceiling, jumping over her, catching her off guard. He landed behind her, as she started swinging, his instincts kicking in, nimbly dodging as she backed him to the corner. She swung at his face, he dodged, then shot a web sticking her hand to the pole, catching her off guard, then dodged her kick, webbing her other foot to the ground. Natasha grumbled as Mick laughed, until he noticed a glowing red light from her wrist. Her hand was free, as she reached down cutting her foot from the webbing, then crouching causing Mick to jump back.   
She lunged as Mick webbed the corner post, sliding across the ground as he pulled towards it. Natasha landed, spinning around, as she dodged the webs Mick shot at her. She dashed at him, catching him mid jump, they crashed to the ground. They rolled, as the two struggled for dominance, Mick trying not to use his super strength to overpower her, but not wanting to lose, he pushed, pinning her hands to the ground. She glared at him, with a twisted smirk as Mick let out a heavy sigh, then released her. He stood up, then crashed back to the ground as Natasha wrapped her legs around his, then spun around, sitting on him, pinning his hands down by his face. His body was too exhausted to try to break free, and clearly they both knew it. Natasha climbed off, offering her hand to help him up. He accepted as she smiled. “That was fun.” She teased as she climbed out of the ring.   
“Yeah, it was something.” Mick said rubbing the back of his head.   
“I’ve seen worse.” Nick Fury said walking towards the door, as Mick climbed down from the ring.   
“I’d have been shocked if he would’ve beat her. She’s good.” Coulson said as Natasha smiled.   
“I was trained from a very young age, so don’t take it too hard.” Natasha said as her slight Russian accent snuck out.   
Mick pulled the mask up, revealing his mouth and nose as he tried to catch his breath. “Young age? There’s no way you’re that old.” He said as she shrugged.   
“I’m not.” She reassured him as she grabbed a towel from the wall.   
“You’re what, sixteen, seventeen?” Mick said walking over towards her, grabbing a towel turning around, taking the mask off, and covering his face with the towel.   
“Close, but a gentleman knows not to ask a lady her age.” She teased, then walked towards the door. Mick slid the mask back on, watching her walk away, fascinated by her.   
“Don’t get any idea’s. She kicked your butt that bad in just a sparing match, imagine what she’d do if you broke her heart.” Coulson said, startling Mick.   
“When did you get behind me?” Mick said as Coulson laughed.   
“Not long after you started chasing after trouble. Come on, I’ll walk you back to your room.” Coulson said, sliding his badge, opening the door.   
“I think she digs me.” Mick joked as Coulson shook his head in disapproval.   
“She’s out of your league.” Coulson teased as Mick shrugged. 

Mick took a relaxing hot shower when he returned to his room, then laid in his bed, as his muscled ached. He looked at the clock on the small desk next to his bed, seeing that is was four in the afternoon. He let out a heavy sigh, closing his eyes. He pictured Natasha smiling at him, then images of his friends and family flooded his mind. He frowned as he thought about them, how he lied to everyone, and how he was going to have to continue to lie as soon as he went home. He pushed the thoughts away, as he had two weeks to not worry about it. He was determined he was going to enjoy his time here. 

The two weeks, flew by, as did his training lessons with Natasha. He loved every second of the lessons, which were monitored by Coulson. He even managed to get the upper hand in a few fights, but those weren’t often enough, and Mick figured Natasha just felt bad for him, so she’d let him win. As Mick stood up, he put the mask on, stepping out of his room, seeing Natasha and Coulson waiting for him. “What’s the occasion?” Mick asked as Coulson wore a grave look.   
“There was an attack in the city, it’s believed to be an 0-8-4. I figured you’d want to come on an actual mission, being your last day here and all.” Coulson said. Mick nodded, as the power walked to the hanger.   
“So what’s an 0-8-4?” Mick asked.   
“It’s an item of unknown origins.” Coulson said, climbing into a small compact jet, and walking to the pilots seat.   
“That sounds, helpful.” Mick said sarcastically, as he stepped into the jet.   
“You may want to buckle up, Quinjets aren’t as easy on the flights as the Bus was.” Coulson said, as Mick sat in the small seat across from Natasha.   
“An 0-8-4 can be a person or an item. Based on what we’ve seen of the damage, I’m thinking it’s a bombing, but it really could be any number of things. I’d bet you were an 0-8-4 at some point.” Natasha said, then Mick shrugged.   
“I doubt that, maybe the thing that attacked me and gave me these powers. So what is it exactly we’re going to do then?” Mick asked as the quintet shook violently, as engines roared to life.   
“We’re going to make sure there’s no more attacks, and do our best to figure out what happened.” She said as rubbed his hands over his face, pulling the mask off accidentally.   
“Aw crap! Sorry, forget you saw that.” Mick said as Natasha looked away and laughed.   
“Your secret’s safe with me. Trust me, I have plenty of my own.” She reassured him as he pulled the mask back on. “Why are you wearing that suit anyway?” She asked as Mick shrugged.  
“They want me to keep my identity secret, and I agree, but it get’s old having a Mask on your face every time you leave your room.” Mick said as Natasha nodded.   
“So, I’m guessing your name isn’t really Recluse then is it?” She said with a smile.   
“No, I’m Mick Bellouve. Nice to meet you.” He responded.   
“Nice to meet you.” She said with a smile.   
“There’s been another attack a block away. Guy’s starting fires, and using bombs. I’m betting on a meta human.” Coulson said over the radio of the quintet.   
“Meta human?” Mick asked as Natasha nodded.   
“People with powers, not necessarily mutants, but they could be.” She said as Mick tilted his head.   
“What’s the difference in mutants and meta humans?” His curiosity peaked.   
“You would be considered a meta human, since you said you were attacked and received your powers and a mutant is born with their powers.” She said as Mick nodded.

Moments later they touched down at Laguardia airport, as Coulson sprung into action. He handed both Natasha and Mick a small ear piece, then opened the hatch on the quinjet. “Move quick, there’s been a report of another bomb threat, over near Rikers Island. Apparently they really want someone that in that prison out.” Coulson said as Mick and Natasha followed.   
“What’s the play then Coulson?” Natasha asked, as Mick was trying to set the volume of his earpiece through his mask.   
“We’re going to, defuse the situation, and capture the bomber.” Coulson said, then smirking after he noticed the joke he made.   
“So where is this place?” Mick asked as Coulson turned around, pointing at the island in the distance. “And how do we get there?” Mick asked.   
“In one of those.” Coulson said, pointing at the black SUV sitting just outside the hanger.

Police cars lined Hazen Street up to the Riker’s bridge, all watching Coulson’s SUV very carefully. He stopped just before the bridge, as an officer walked up to the drivers window. “Ah, you must be the agents they called in for the bombs.” The officer said looking at the badge in Coulson’s hand.   
“Yeah, any idea’s where the bombs are set up?” Coulson asked as the officer nodded.   
“They’re set up all over the island according to out sources. We’re not sure how they got there, that place is pretty secure.” The officer said as Coulson frowned.   
“You going to let us across the bridge?” Coulson asked, then an explosion went off, shaking the SUV.   
Smoke and flames shot high into the sky coming from just over the tree line to the left. “You two okay? We need to get over there!” Coulson asked as Natasha nodded, jumping out of the car, followed by Mick.   
“Based on how close that smoke is, I’d bet it’s coming from Bowery Bay!” The officer said over the radio. “Hey, what are you two doing?” He yelled as Coulson sped backwards, spinning the car around, leaving Mick to follow Natasha on foot.   
Mick grabbed Natasha by the waist, swinging on a web over the fence. “That comes in handy!” She said as they landed on the ground, running across the parking lot, seeing a man dressed in a red cloak running towards a black van. “Stop right there!” Natasha yelled as the man looked at them with a smirk, then blasted flames from his hands. Mick webbed Natasha pulling her just out of the reach as the man jumped into the back of the van, before it sped off.   
“Coulson, our guys a flamethrower! He’s in a white van heading to Berrian Boulevard!” Natasha said as she grabbed car doors, looking for one that was unlocked.   
“I should be able to cut them off then, I’m on 45th!” Coulson said as Natasha gave up and started running.   
“I have no idea where any of this stuff is, so I’m just going to follow you!” Mick said running behind Natasha, causing both Coulson and Natasha to laugh.   
A loud crash echoed through the earpiece as Coulson swore. Mick noticed the tree’s as they started running down hill, grabbing Natasha, then swinging. These tree’s weren’t like the ones he practiced on at home, so he was constantly shooting new webs as they’d tangle in the branches. “Hold on, I’m going to try something stupid. Do not let go of me, I’ll keep you safe.” Mick said as Natasha wrapped her arms around him. He then shot two webs at two close by trees, pulling back hard, causing them to lean towards them.   
“You’re not seriously going to treat us like a rock in a slingshot, are you?” Natasha asked looking Mick straight in the face as serious as she could be.   
Mick smiled, glad he had a mask on, as he responded. “Yes, yes I am. Hold on tight now!” Mick said he jumped. The tree’s slung them into the air as Natasha screamed, Mick had to think quick, shooting a web at the roof a a large white building, pulling hard as they crashed and rolled across it.   
“Next time you get a dumb idea, leave me out of it.” Natasha said, as static shot through the earpiece. They quickly ran across the roof seeing Coulson fighting with two men in the middle of the street, and another staggered out of the back of the white van. “There’s our guy!” Natasha said jumping down onto a delivery truck, then running out into the road, as police cars began to show up. Mick jumped down, following as the Natasha jumped on top of another truck parked by the fence, then over the fence, landing with a roll, drawing the attention of the man in the red cloak.   
“You two don’t know when to quit! How about I just turn you into a pile of ashes!” The man yelled in a heavy Brooklyn accent, as flames surrounded his hands.   
“Don’t you know you shouldn’t play with fire?” Mick yelled as he landed beside Natasha blasting the man’s face with webs.   
“Really, now you’re going to be witty?” Natasha said with annoyance in her voice, as she ran towards Coulson and the two men fighting him.   
“Yeah, that’s cool, I’ll handle the firebug here!” Mick yelled as the man ripped the webs off his face.   
“The name’s Solar! Like Solar Flare!” Solar yelled, blasting a line of fire at Mick, who narrowly jumped to the right, grabbing the power line pole.   
“I like fire as much as the next guy, but you need to chill before you burn the whole place down!” Mick yelled as Solar blasted another round flames, this time, burning the pole. Mick barely jumped out of the way, shooting webs at Solar’s hands, then running at him. Solar swung, as Mick ducked, grabbing Solar’s legs with web, then pulling hard so he crashed to the ground. The pole cracked, sending sparks flying as the lines crashed to the ground between Mick and Solar, who burned the webs off his hands, and feet.   
“Spider powers huh? I wonder if you was bit by a spider like my old pal was?” Solar said smirking as an image of Arachnid shot through Mick’s mind. “Know’s him do ya? I wonder how old Arachnid is doing now?” Solar said with a grim smile, as he stepped over the lines, closer to the stunned Mick.   
Mick snapped back to reality just in time to dodge a fireball thrown from Solar. “What’s the matter, lost your spunk?” Solar teased as fire swirled around his hands, his face glowing, and his smile terrifying Mick.   
The fire light vanished, as a blue pulse flashed over Solar. “You ok, kid?” Coulson asked as Mick slumped down putting his hands on his face.   
“I’m sorry, I don’t know why I froze like that. He brought up Arachnid, and I lost it.” Mick said as Coulson and Natasha knelt down next to him.   
“Life or death is hard to deal with, you don’t have to choose this lifestyle if you don’t want to.” Coulson said sympathetically, as the cops handcuffed Solar.   
“I want to, I just-“ Mick paused as Natasha put her hand on his back.   
“I know how you feel, I froze up the first few times too. It gets easier.” Her voice soothed Mick, as he nodded, standing up.   
“What about the bombs?” Mick asked as Coulson pointed at the van.   
“The trigger is in the van. Looks like they were after Arachnid. Too bad Arachnid is on a much worse prison island than Rikers Island.” Coulson said as The cops pulled Solar to his feet.   
“You think this is over Spider-Boy? Nah, you ain’t seen nothin’ yet.” Solar taunted, as he snapped the handcuffs, launched himself into the air on pillars of fire.   
Mick quickly shot webs hitting Solar’s chest, jerking him back to the ground, as the cops backed away, trying to put out the ones unfortunate enough to get caught in the flames. Solar landed behind them, lanching fireballs at Coulson and Natasha, who narrowly avoided them, as Mick ran straight at him, rage consuming him. Solar tried blocking every punch thrown by Mick, until Mick caught on, webbing his hands together, then pulling them down, slamming his fist into Solar’s face.   
Solar crashed to the ground, blood pouring from his nose, as Coulson grabbed Mick, stopping him from swinging at the unconscious Solar. “We’ll handle this one.” Coulson said pulling a strange looking black rubbery kind of handcuff from his belt, strapping them over the webbing holding Solar’s hands. A blue light ignited as Coulson motioned the officers to Solar. “Those will nullify his powers. Rikers does have a few meta human cells, but I’m not sure if they can withstand fire of that caliber.” He said as the officer nodded.   
“What’s with the costumed guy?” The officer asked looking at Mick.   
“You can call me Recluse.” Mick said as Coulson and Natasha shot him a look of disapproval.   
“Thanks for your help, Recluse. Coulson, you may want to let them check you out, that’s a nasty cut you got there.” The officer said pointing at the blood dripping from the top of Coulson’s head.   
“It’s just a scratch. Can we get a lift back to Laguardia? My rides a little beat up.” Coulson asked in his typical smooth fashion, as the officer nodded, walking over to his SUV. 

As they walked to the hanger, Mick felt the tension emitting from Coulson. “What made you think it was a good idea to tell the police your code name?” Coulson asked angrily.   
“He seemed to know you, and it’s not like I told them my real name.” Mick retorted.   
“You’re supposed to have a low profile, remember?”   
“In his defense, that went out the window when Solar tried to burn down the block. You would’ve had to say something, and having a hero in town, may just make criminals think twice about their actions.” Natasha interrupted as Coulson scowled.   
“I hope you’re ready for whatever happens next. If you’re going to put your name out there, I can’t keep you hidden.” Coulson warned as Mick nodded, as they climbed into the quinjet.   
“I doubt anyone is going to be able to trace that name back to my small town, but I promise, I’ll be more careful.” Mick said as Coulson walked to the pilot’s seat.   
Mick pulled the mask off his face, wringing out the sweat, as Natasha pretended to gag. “Sorry, guess you’re just too hot for me to be around.” Mick joked as she rolled her eyes, trying not to laugh.   
“I have to admit, those powers do come in handy. Maybe I’ll get to see you on another mission?” Natasha said with a smile.   
“I hope so, I enjoyed working with you.” Mick said beaming, as the quinjet roared to life


	7. Chapter 7

Part 2: With Great Power... 

Chapter 7:

The school year came and went without any more strange events. Laynie’s family moved across the state, while Davis went off to work on a ranch for his neighbor. Jerren spent the summer camping with his family, leaving Mick alone with his family. It frustrated Mick being alone, but gave him the opportunity to practice with powers. 

His life was speeding by, as his sophomore year closed in quickly. He was reunited with his friends at sophomore orientation, along with a new friend and Davis’ cousin, Patten.   
“Been busy all summer huh?” Mick said as the guys all compared their schedules for any classes together.   
“Yeah, sorry.” Jerren said as they all walked around the new campus of the high school.   
“Oh! You should see some of the tricks I picked up. I could probably give you a run for your money!” Davis said punching at Mick.  
“I thought you were working all summer, when did you have time to work on fighting?” Mick asked as Davis smirked.  
“Jerren and I did get a few days off while you were on vacation with your family, we hung out with Alice, and some of her friends.” Davis said as Patten rolled his eyes.  
“You don’t like Alice, eh Patten?” Mick said as Patten shook his head.   
“He’s not a big fan of her friends, he thinks they’re weird.” Jerren said as Patten agreed.   
“She’s okay, it’s just that whole witch thing that throws me off.” Patten admitted as Jerren and Davis shrugged. 

As they walked around campus familiarizing themselves with the high school, Mick felt like someone was watching them. He kept looking over his shoulder as Patten caught notice.   
“You feeling alright? She’s not going to show up man, they moved to Shreveport.” Patten said, referring to Laynie.   
“No, I know that. I just feel like someone is watching us.” Mick said as Davis shot a skeptical look.   
“Dude, there are people all over the place! Maybe those weird instincts of yours are just off today?” Davis joked as Mick rolled his eyes.  
“That’s not how that works.” Mick sighed as they chuckled.   
“You wanna come check out some of the stuff I’ve been working on. I think I have a few little things that may help you out.” Jerren said as they walked to the student parking lot to Davis’ truck.   
“Yeah why not, it’s not like I’m super busy or anything. It’d be fun to get together like we used too!” Davis said as they all agreed.   
“When did you become a little tech guru?” Mick asked as Jerren shrugged.  
“I’ve always been into tech, but here lately I’ve been pretty inspired to make stuff, wait ‘til you see Davis’ rod that I made!” Jerren said excitedly, as the truck roared to life. 

They joked and laughed as Davis drove them to Jerren’s place. As they walked into Jerren’s room, Mick was stunned to see so much tech sprawled across his desk. “Here, try these on!” Jerren said tossing two watch like bracelets at Mick. 

Mick slid them on, then looked skeptically at Jerren. “What do they do?” Mick asked as Jerren’s face lit up.   
“It’s an upgrade to your web shooters, it’s cartridge based, so you’ll have to be mindful of that!” Jerren explained as Mick looked down at the fading web marks on his wrists. “You did say your webbing was acting up, so I figured this should help. Now, I played around with it, but I can tinker with it to set it better for you.” Jerren said confidently, then helped Mick adjust it to his wrists, which were smaller than his.   
“How did you come up with this idea?” Mick asked as Jerren showed him how to activate it.   
“I thought it would be like a silly string blaster, I just had to figure out how to compress it into a smaller cartridge and make it sticky. And to be honest, I just thought of it in a dream, then tried it. Weirdest thing really.” Jerren said as Mick looked at him skeptically.   
“It was the same with me and this fighting stuff, I had a dream I could do it, and I woke up, and I surprised myself with how agile I was. Guess all that farm work built up some muscles eh?” Davis joked as Patten frowned.   
“You don’t believe that do you?” Mick said to Patten catching him off guard.   
“I just find it weird that they had these dreams after hanging out with Alice and her friends, that’s all.” He replies as Mick shrugged.   
“It’s not like they could have real magic or something, right?” Mick suggested as they all shrugged. “We’ll just keep an eye out for any weird things at school. Let’s put your money where your mouth is Davis, and try out these new toys.” Mick said as Jerren and Davis got excited.   
“You’re so going down spider boy!” Davis said as he ran outside.   
“You sure about this?” Patten asked as Mick nodded.   
“I won’t hurt him, I’m really curious to see what’s got you on edge about all this.” Mick said with a smile, as they walked out to the backyard. 

Davis held out a blue and black rod, painted to match Nightwing’s weapon from the Batman comics. “I never picked you for a Nightwing kind of guy, more like a Robin.” Mick joked as Davis glared at him.   
“We’ll see who’s laughing after I take you down a few notches.” Davis threatened as sparks flew from the end of each end, as Davis spun his weapon elegantly.  
“Huh, that’s neat, but you won’t touch me with that.” Mick taunted, as he admired the uniqueness of the weapon. 

Davis began running straight at Mick, swinging quickly as Mick back stepped him then shot a web. Davis surprisingly dodged it, swinging the rod, Mick barely leaning back out of the path, the electricity sparking just in front of his face.  
Davis quickly jumped backwards as Mick stood up, recomposing himself. He was stunned, not even Natasha moved like that, and she was highly trained. He shook his head, trying to focus as Davis jumped at him. Mick slid quickly to the side, as he tried to shoot another web, this time nothing, leaving him wide open as Davis nailed him in the chest. The electricity burned as it launched him backwards, crashing to the ground. His muscles twitched as he tried to pull himself up, looking in disbelief at his wrist.   
“Use the shooters I made you!” Jerren yelled as Mick shrugged, pressing the button on the side of the watch face. It shot out a small lever that fit in the middle of his hand, he squeezed blasting the web out of the small watch until Mick released it, as Davis blocked it with his rod.   
Mick sprung at Davis, launching webs at him, this time catching the end of the line. Davis quickly realized his mistake as Mick pulled the web line, ripping the rod from his hands. Davis smirked, running at Mick as he tossed the rod aside to go hand to hand with Davis, who had other plans. Davis jumped, with a slight spin, kicking Mick in the face. Mick spit out blood glaring at Davis who smirked.  
“Game over pal, you’re going down now.” Mick growled as he wiped his mouth.   
Mick swung as Davis back stepped him, as he predicted, then Mick shot a web, catching Davis mid swing, pulling his arm behind him as Mick slid underneath him, then pushed his arm up behind his shoulder, as his kicked the back of Davis’ leg, pinning him on his knee.   
“Say uncle.” Mick taunted as Davis struggled.  
“Fine, you win this round, but you got to admit, I held my own.” Davis said proudly as Mick released him.  
“Surprisingly you did.” Mick admitted handing Davis back his rod. “How does this thing work, didn’t seem like a lot of volts until it hit me.”   
“It’s got twin tasers that run on those D size batteries, so it’s not enough to kill someone, but he could put them down real quick. There’s also a rubber core so it doesn’t electrocute him, just the ends.” Jerren said with a big smile.   
“Huh. That’s neat.” Mick said as he rubbed his chest were he was hit. They walked back inside, with Mrs. Bennet looking at Mick’s bloody lip, shook her head and walked away, muttering something about boys being boys. 

Mick went to clean up, wondering if maybe Patten was right to be concerned about Jerren and Davis’ new found skills. He looked at the cut in his lip rolling his eyes. “Not even Natasha beat me this bad, and she was very scary when she didn’t hold back. Maybe something is up with Alice’s friends. I mean, we live in a world with people with superpowers, I guess magic could be real too?” Mick thought to himself, as he pulled off his shirt looking at the already purple bruise on the center of his chest.

The first day of school snuck up too fast as Mick pulled himself out of bed. He was determined to talk to Alice about Jerren and Davis as soon as he got to school, so he hurried and got dressed. “You’re awfully excited for classes to start!” His mom said as he shook his head.   
“Nope, just ready to see my friends, schools just the unfortunate place I have to do that.” Mick replied as his mom shrugged.  
“At least you only have two years left right?” She teased as Mick nodded with a big grin, grabbing his backpack then running to the bus stop. 

This school was huge, much bigger than the freshman high, with three times the people. He hadn’t felt so small since he started junior high. As he walked through the hallway to the commons area, he noticed people already in their clicks, popular kids staring unimpressed as he walked by them. He noticed his friends sitting around the large brick planter closest to the office, he walked slowly over to them, looking for Alice.   
“Scouting a new girlfriend there, Ace?” Davis joked as Mick rolled his eyes.   
“Anyone see Alice, I’d like to meet her friends.” Mick said as Patten winced.   
“I just saw her right before you came in, let’s go find her.” Davis said as everyone followed.

Alice was surrounded by girls and guys with dark black hair, drenched with eyeliner, and almost albino pale. They each had a disconnected expression, tending to repel anyone from even wanting to be around them. “Is there something we can help you with?” A girl stepped forward with a blank expression on her face, practically staring through Mick.   
“I just wanted to talk to Alice.” Mick said with a sight studded, as the girl made him few uneasy.   
“I’ll take care of him Ivy, he’s a friend of mine.” Alice said stepping out from behind Ivy, who glared at Mick, creating even more tension. “Why are you over here Mick, did you need something?” Alice asked pulling Mick away from the other girls.   
“Yeah, um, that was weird. Sorry. What’s up with Davis and Jerren?” Mick said trying to escape the gaze of the strange girls.  
“What do you mean what’s up with them? They seem normal to me?” She asked looking at them standing away from her group of friends goofing around.  
“They have a strange new almost supernatural abilities, and Patten said they got them after hanging out with you and your weird friends. I was just curious if you guys cast any spells or anything happened.” Mick tried to say without offending her, to only be met with a wicked grin.   
“Are you jealous Mr. Hero? Your friends learn a few new tricks and it makes you feel inadequate?” She taunted as Mick frowned.  
“It’s not like that, I just know what my, um, predicament has cost, and I don’t want that for them.” Mick said and Alice snickered.   
“You can’t make that choice for them. They wanted this, and they paid a price for it, and there’s nothing you can do to change it.” Alice said, in an oddly threatening tone.  
“Paid a price? What kind of price?” Mick asked frustrated, as Ivy walked up behind Alice.  
“Times up, we need you back now, Alice.” Ivy said as she glared viciously as Mick.   
“Stay away from the coven Mick.” Alice said as she walked away.  
“Is that a threat?” Mick asked only to be ignored. Davis and Jerren walked over to him staring confused, as Mick frowned.  
“What did you do to them, dude? That looked really uncomfortable.” Davis said as Mick rolled his eyes.   
“I didn’t do anything. They just don’t like me, I guess. Even Alice seems to have a problem with me.” Mick said as the bell rang. “Meet you at lunch?” Mick asked as they shrugged.   
Mick barely paid attention in class trying to figure out what he could’ve done to those girls to make them despise him so much. He didn’t like how he was so spread out from his friends throughout the day, and it was made worse when he learned his friends had a different lunch schedule. The isolation aggravated him but he used his downtime to sketch new ideas for a suit, he was pretty keen on the idea of a blue suit, with a black trench coat, but those were pretty expensive. The other thought on his mind was the price his friends had to pay. They didn’t seem to be hurt, or even aware they paid a price. As bad as he wanted to solve the problem, he wasn’t even sure how to figure out what it really was. 

After the last bell rang, he heard students screaming, so he rushed to his locker, grabbing his sweatshirt and mask, then ducking into a small corner so no one would see him pull it on. He scrambled out of the hallway to see black dogs, with smoke trailing from their feet as they chased students, biting and clawing at them viciously. He webbed the closest on, pulling it away from the poor girl whose leg was bleeding badly. He slung the dog at the wall, as it burst into smoke on impact. “What just happened?” Mick asked as he ran over to the girl, webbing the gash in her leg to slow the bleeding.   
“Those monsters, they appeared out of nowhere! They’re all over the parking lot!” She exclaimed as Mick picked her up jumping onto the roof, as he saw two more dogs chasing another pair of students.   
“Dang it! Sit tight! I’ll be right back!” He yelled to the girl, setting her down then jumping off the roof slinging a web at the dog. Before he could hit it a pair of kunai shot through the air, and through the hounds, turning them into black smoke. Mick landed as something rushed passed him like a blur. He ran as fast as he could into the parking lot to see a shimmering blade with black smoke around it, presumably from the dogs it slashed through. Mick stared in aw as he watched someone dressed in all black sheath the blade and turn to him.   
“You must be the spider guy, from Homecoming last year right?” A guys voice said, as the Mick stood his ground.   
“Yeah, the name’s Recluse, and you are?” Mick responded as the guy walked closer.  
“Call me Shadowfury. Guess you can say I’m the new hero in town.” Shadowfury held out a hand towards Mick who didn’t return the gesture.   
“Look, no offense, but I don’t quite trust you.” Mick said as Shadowfury shrugged. “Any idea as to what those things were?”   
“Hellhounds I’d say. Seems like we have a dangerous game at play. They’re like a tier two of witch summonings, or so I’ve heard.” Shadowfury responded as another scream echoed. “Sorry, gotta run.” He said, vanishing into a blur faster than Mick could respond. 

He walked over webbing the gashes in the two students, turning back towards the girl on the roof. “Thanks, Spider-Guy, tell your friend thanks too. The injured boy said.  
“He’s not my friend, and the name is Recluse.” Mick said running back to the girl on the roof as sirens began to ring in the distance. He jumped down seeing Davis pulling his truck up, trying to hurry Mick in. “You’ll be safe now. Sounds like EMT’s are on their way.” He said as the blonde girl smiled.  
“Thank you so much. You saved my life.” She said as Mick nodded.   
“Not a problem. It’s what I do.” Mick said jumping into the back of the truck. “Punch it Chewie!” Mick joked as he tapped the top of the truck.   
“Not how I expected the first day of school to end.” Davis said as he pulled on to the road.   
“Me either, and I don’t like it. We have other problems too, there’s another guy posing as a hero, not too sure about him. He calls himself Shadowfury.” Mick said holding his mask on as they drove down the backroads to avoid any questions from the authorities. He sighed as he slid down into the truck, slipping out of the sweatshirt and mask. “Coulson is going to want to hear about this.” Mick said to himself as he laid down in the bed of the truck.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8:

Mick and his friends huddled in Jerren’s room talking about the attack, as a special new’s report echoed from the living room. Mrs. Bennet gasped as the boys fell silent. “We left before it happened, it’s news to us, got it?” Jerren said as he heard his mom walking down the hallway.   
“Did you boys see anything about the rabid dogs at your school?” She asked as they shook their heads. “They said that Recluse character was there too, along with another guy in a mask. I’m just glad you boy’s are ok. Have you finished your homework?” She asked as Jerren nodded.   
Mick’s phone began buzzing in his pocket as his heart sank. He looked to see it was Coulson, and sighed. “I’ll be right back, gotta take this.” He slipped out of the room, and to the back yard. “What’s up, Coulson?” Mick tried to play it cool.   
“How was school?” Coulson said nonchalantly.   
“Oh you know, boring as usual.” Mick lied.   
“Sounds like it. Where’d the dogs come from?” Coulson sounded annoyed.   
“They were weird, not real, but could attack people, but you hit them, they vanished into smoke.” Mick said climbing up the deck sitting by the pool.   
“That sounds almost like magic, do I need to come down there and investigate?” Coulson asked as Mick quickly declined.   
“I’ve got this. I’ll figure it all out, and put an end to it.” Mick said, faking confidence.  
“You sound like you’re hiding something. If I can’t trust you, I’m putting a shadow on you. Don’t like to me, Mick.” Coulson sounded threatening.   
“No, it’s fine, seriously. I’m on top of it.” Mick said, trying to keep Coulson from finding out about his friends and their deals with The Coven.   
“Alright, but you’re going to have to keep me informed so I can keep the clean up crew nearby. Can’t have the world’s eyes on you, or something worse may find you.” Coulson said, as Mick realized what he meant. He had to protect more than just his friends being a hero. If anyone found out who he really was, everyone he cared about would be in danger.   
“If something happen’s I’ll let you know ASAP. Sorry.” Mick said with a sigh.   
“Gotta go, bigger problems!” Coulson said hanging up. 

Mick shook his head, grateful he wasn’t a full fledged SHIELD agent. They never seemed to have time to catch their breath. He walked back to the door to be met by Jerren who was strangely pale. “Dude, three people died in that attack.” His voice solemn, and hit Mick hard.   
“What? No way.” Mick said with a heavy heart.   
“Apparently two died from the dogs; Berry James and Nicole Bean, the other one was stabbed. I think you knew her, Jamie Grant.” Jerren said as it hit Mick. Stabbed. Shadowfury.   
“I knew I didn’t trust that guy.” Mick said as his grief quickly turned to anger. He knew Jamie since junior high, she was always dating another one of his friends, Jake Camp, they had broken up recently though.   
“School’s out for the next few days, giving the students time to process what happened, and the authorities time to make sure there’s no more rabid dogs nearby.” Jerren said as Mick muttered under his breath.   
“That works for me. I think we should pay a visit to Alice’s house tomorrow. I want to meet with the Coven again. I don’t trust them.” Mick said sternly as Jerren’s eyes flashed, and glazed over.   
“I don’t think that’s a good idea. I think we should leave them alone.” He said in a robotic tone.   
“You feeling ok?” Mick asked as Jerren shook his head as his eyes returning to normal.  
“Yeah, that was weird. So you want to stay the night?” Jerren asked as Mick nodded. He wasn’t sure, but something was definitely up, and he was going to find out just what it was. 

The next morning, they woke to Mrs. Bennet talking with Mick’s mom about the attack at the school. Mick rubbed his eyes, as he pulled himself off the floor. “I wish there was something more we could do.” Davis said sitting up, surprising Mick.   
“Yeah. Let’s go swing by the school, I have a feeling we can gather some information there.” Mick suggested, as the two stood up and stretched.   
“Should we wake them?” Davis asked pointing at the sleeping Jerren and Patten.   
“Probably, they’re better at noticing small details.” Mick said as he reached over shaking Jerren startling him awake.   
“Come on, we’re going to check out the school for any hints on what happened yesterday.” Mick said as Jerren moaned.   
“Can’t we wait until later in the morning?” Patten grumbled.   
“No, we need to slip in and find any clues as to what those dogs really were before the cops pick the place clean. Davis, do you still have that Nightwing costume?” Mick said as Davis nodded.   
“Seriously, you want me to dress up?” Davis muttered as Mick smiled with a nod.   
“Oh come on, the money you paid for that thing, you need to wear it more often.” Patten teased.   
“It’ll give us an opportunity to try out this new comms system I made, and the grip gloves I made for you Davis!” Jerren said perking up.   
“Let’s think of this like a test run for our makeshift band of heroes! We can be the Webheads!” Mick joked as Patten and Davis rolled their eyes. 

Jerren told his mom they were going to Davis’ house, then met everyone outside in Davis’ truck. “What’d you tell her?” Mick asked as Jerren shrugged.   
“Well, I didn’t lie. I told her we’re going to Davis’ house, which we are.” Jerren said as Patten chuckled.   
“Once we get to the church, Mick and I will change into our suits and grab our gear. You two have to keep an ear on the cops, let us know if they start getting suspicious, or if something happens.” Davis said as they quickly drove through the morning traffic.   
“So, what exactly are you looking for?” Patten asked as Mick slid on his mask.   
“Any kind of clues to find out what those dogs were. The way they vanished into smoke after being hurt, just bugs me.” Mick said, stepping out of the truck.   
“Tap the earpiece when you get a little farther away to turn it on, so it doesn’t feedback in your ear. If Davis taps his goggles, it should be able to take pictures and send them to the laptop. Patten has the binoculars to keep an eye out for anything, and the portable scanner, which is set to the police line.” Jerren said trying to hide his excitement.   
“Alright, sounds like it’s time to get started. Ready for this Davis?” Mick asked as Davis smiled.   
“Not too thrilled about the game of dress up, but to get to play a spy, yeah, I’m way over ready for this.” He said putting the mask over his goggles. 

Davis followed quickly behind Mick, as they snuck around in the twilight, ducking into the ditch behind the practice field. They slipped inside, continuing to stay as low as they could, to not attract any attention until they reached the fence blocking the stadium from the practice field. Mick jumped over with a little help from his webs, with Davis following behind using the web shooters Jerren made.   
“I see why you like those powers.” Davis said, as he landed next to Mick.   
“Comes in handy, doesn’t it?” Mick said tapping his earpiece turning it on, as they slipped into the shadows under the bleachers.   
“We’re going to drive around the school to get a better view. Jerren is going to keep you updated.” Patten said as Mick and Davis moved slowly down the bleachers.   
“Guys, you got a patrol unit in the Hornsby Gym parking lot, once you get passed the bleachers b-line it to the Gym and lay low, I’ll let you know when the coast is clear!” Jerren said as Mick nodded.   
Mick felt his pulse racing, with adrenaline coursing through his veins. He’d never broken onto a crime scene, but he had to get answers, he had to solve this so Coulson didn’t send a team down to investigate. Once they reached the end of the bleachers, Mick ran for the concessions building, with Davis on his heels, then they quickly ran to the field house, Mick cleared the fence without a hitch, as Davis barely made it over with an extremely lucky flip, then pressed against the wall catching their breath.   
“That was pretty cool, huh?” Davis whispered as Mick shook his head, grateful that his eye roll was covered by his mask.   
“We need to keep quiet as we slip out of here. Do those grip gloves Jerren made you let you climb walls?” Mick asked as Davis nodded. “Good, then up we go.” Mick jumped on the wall, climbing up.   
They reached the top, ducking down as the sun was starting to creep up behind the trees. “Guys, the unit is moving into the big parking lot. Apparently there’s someone there, do you see anything?” Jerren asked as Davis pulled out his binoculars from the case on his belt.   
“Nope, can’t see anything through the tree’s.” Davis said as screams of pain echoed.   
“There’s an attacker! They’re calling for back up! Officer down!” Jerren exclaimed as Mick and Davis shared a look, then jumping down from the roof, running hard towards the other parking lot. Two officers were on the ground, trying to fight off snarling dogs, their guns just out of reach. Davis quickly pulled the two pieces rod from the side of his belt, snapping them together, as electricity crackled on the ends.   
Mick webbed one of the dogs, as he jumped over it, flipping it over him slamming it into the ground as it vanished into smoke, meanwhile Davis jumped on the other, slamming the staff down into his back, causing it to vanish as well. The two officer’s stared in confusion, between themselves and the two boys in costumes.   
“Where did you two come from, and what are you doing here? This is a crime scene, you need to leave.” One officer said as he stood up.   
“A simple thank you would suffice.” Mick said as he helped the other officer up.   
“Thanks, but clearly this place is dangerous.” The officer said as he leaned over to pick up the guns on the ground.   
“I think we can handle ourselves. All I wanted to do was see this.” Mick said walking over to the burn mark where the dog hit the ground. He leaned down, touching the scorch marks, as ashes stuck to his gloves. Davis walked over, touching his goggles, snapping a few pics as a blood curdling scream echoed in the air, followed by a frantic voice over the radio of the officer’s behind them.   
“Officer down! Suspect armed with-” The message ended with a gargled noise, as the two officers gripped their guns, running into the commons area.   
“We should follow them.” Davis said as his face turned pale, then started running behind them.   
“Stop!” Mick yelled as Davis kept running. “Crap!” he mumbled as he followed Davis.   
Gunshots echoed around the science building as Jerren’s concerned calls fell on deaf ears. Mick finally caught up with Davis, who was stood horrified of the scene, four officers, brutally ripped apart, blood everywhere, as a smoking black creature stood before them, with razor sharp claws, and horns on its shoulders, head and elbow’s. It’s gleaming yellow eyes focused on the two boys as Mick grabbed Davis’ shoulder, causing him to gasp.   
“What is that thing?” Davis asked, terror filling his voice.   
“I don’t know, but we’re clearly it’s next targets. Run now!” Mick yelled as the creature lunged, crashing into the concrete where it landed. Mick shot webs at it, trying to stop it from moving, as it ripped through them like they were paper.   
“What’s going on guys? There’s a bunch of units in route to the school!” Patten said as the creature let out a thunderous roar. “What the heck was that? It shook the truck!” Patten asked.   
“We’re still trying to figure that out!” Mick yelled as he webbed the awning swinging away as the creature slashed at him.   
“It’s some kind of demonic thing, it’s arms are too big for us to get close to, and it tears through Mick’s webs like they’re silly string!” Davis said as he climbed onto the awnings to run to the roof behind Mick.   
“Try the taser web on the web shooters! Maybe that’ll help. There’s a small button to change them, the watch face should glow yellow when it’s active!” Jerren’s said as Davis quickly pressed the buttons.   
“Here goes nothing!” Davis said shooting the creature. The webs wrapped around the creature sending electricity sparking around it, causing it to roar in pain.   
“Throw me the staff!” Mick yelled as he jumped into the air towards the creature.   
Davis through the staff, as Mick caught it mid air and spun it, slamming the end into the creature’s head with the electricity surging through the fur on it’s head, as it crashed to the ground screaming in pain. It convulsed as Mick backed away from it, green and black smoke swirled around it, as it seemed to change shape. When the smoke cleared an officer laid on the ground, charred and bloody, barely breathing. “Call 911. That creature was a person.” Davis said horrified, dropping the web shooters.   
“I have to call Coulson. Davis, we need to get out of here before those other officer’s show up, and think we did this.” Mick said, his voice was trembling as Davis nodded frantically. Mick grabbed the web shooters, running back towards the Hornsby Gym. “Where are you guys, we need a lift.” Mick asked as the sirens could be heard in the distance getting closer quickly.   
“We’re coming to you, meet us on the road by the cafeteria. We just set up a small road block on Range. Probably won’t stop the cops, but it might buy us a little time to get out of dodge.” Patten said as Mick and Davis continued running hard.   
They reached the road as Davis’ black truck pulled up, the back door swinging open with Jerren climbed back to the front. Davis jumped in, sliding over as Mick followed, then Patten floored it, as the sirens got closer. They sped down the road, then turning left, heading back towards the small baptist church.   
He began to slow down, to not draw attention to them, as they reached Cockerham Road. “Take the back way by Carters. The less we have to deal with Range the better. Hopefully no one saw us though.” Jerren said as he guided Patten to the back entrance of his neighborhood.   
“I’ve got to call Coulson and explain what we just saw. You guys stay quiet.” Mick said trying to slow his breathing as he pulled out his phone.   
“What do you mean a person transformed into a huge monster?” Coulson’s voice was loud enough that everyone in the truck heard him.   
“I went to investigate what those dog things were, and this thing ripped apart at least three, maybe more police officers, and once we took it down by electrocuting it, it turned into a person. I think this is bigger than me Coulson, I may actually need you here.” Mick said, his voice still trembling.   
“I’ll be there with a team. You and your friends need to lay low for a while.” Coulson said, sounding slightly worn out.   
“Davis you freaking genius! You recorded the whole fight!” Patten exclaimed as he pointed to the newly acquired data from the goggles.   
“I’m going to need that video.” Coulson said as Mick agreed, and Davis sighed.  
“I’ll send it to you as soon as we get connected to the internet.” Mick said relieved.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9:

Mick sat in a small, dimly lit room, in an old conference room. An agent of Coulson’s sat across the table with his eyes fixed on Mick, waiting silently. Mick let out a heavy breath hoping Coulson would hurry up, and come question him. He wanted to protect his friends by hiding their involvement with the Coven, but he wasn’t sure what they were going to say. Normally they’d work together and come up with a story, but given the short timeframe they had between the monster attack and Coulson’s arrival, they had nothing. The door creaked as Coulson slowly pushed it open, then paused staring at Mick. “I’ll take it from here.” He said as the agent slowly stood up, leaving, closing the door behind him.   
“Where you going to tell me about your super friends?” Coulson said, clearly disappointed.   
“I didn’t want you to take them away.” Mick said looking at the floor.   
“That’s not what we do. We keep an eye on these things to make sure no one gets hurt.” Coulson said sitting in the chair across from Mick.   
“I wanted to figure out how they got their powers on my own.” Mick said looking up at Coulson.   
“They told me you suspect a group of girls calling themselves the Coven. What have you discovered about them that makes them your focus?” Coulson asked nicely.   
“It’s just something about them, and then that ninja guy, Shadowfury said something about hellhounds being a tier two witches summon, that’s really all I have to go on.” Mick said as Coulson nodded with a frown.   
“The Director wants someone planted in the school to keep an eye on things. I’m not one to question his judgements, but I’m pretty short on young recruits, and I really don’t have the patience for teenage drama as a teacher or principal.” Coulson said as Mick looked back at the ground. “However, we may able to plant Ms. Romanoff as a transfer student.” Mick’s eyes lit up, as Coulson clearly disapproved his excitement.   
“What would having someone at the school do though?” Mick asked trying to cover up his excitement.   
“She’s a spy, she can gather information better than most people can remember it, and don’t think I can’t see right through you. Remember what I told you before; she’ll crush you in more ways that just in a fight. I’d stick with strictly business with her.” Coulson warned as Mick shrugged. “I’m serious, Mick. Also, she’ll be under cover, you can’t blow that cover, so act like you’ve just met. I’ve got a few missions lined up after I do a quick look around with a team, so Natasha will be your point of contact until I get back, got it?” Coulson said in a father like tone.   
“Yeah, I got it.” Mick said with a smirk.   
“What would you think if I invited your friends to join the Strategic Homeland Intervention Enforcement and Logistics Division?” Coulson asked shocking Mick.   
“Are you serious?” Mick asked skeptically.   
“Considering. We could use more people like you. The Academy of Science and Technology would be a great place for your friend, Jerren. I also think your other friend Davis has some serious field work potential, maybe even Patten as a recon or something.” Coulson said, as Mick’s heart fluttered. He could have a true team with his friends, doing some really cool stuff working for Coulson, but that all seemed too good to be true. “Think about it, let me know later. I’ve got a lot of work to do now. Agent Max will bring you and your friends back home.” 

A week went by before they let students return to school, as news reporters stood outside the school talking about the damages to both the psyche of the students and grounds. “Do you feel safe in your own school?” A lady with curly blonde hair asked as Mick tried to ignore her. “He’s clearly too shaken up to give us an answer!” She exclaimed as Mick dropped his head, clinching his fists.   
“No, we’re not scared! We have two heroes that protect our school, Recluse and Shadowfury!” an old friend of Mick’s from junior high, Jake said, running up behind Mick, wrapping an arm around Mick’s shoulder.   
“Oh, is that so! Do you by chance know the real identity of those two so called heroes?” The lady asked, with a big smile.   
“Well, I don’t think they want to reveal their secrets, but if they did, can you imagine the amount of girls they’d get-”   
“Alrighty then! That’s quite enough! On to another student!” The lady interrupted as Jake laughed, pulling on Mick’s shoulder as they walked away.   
“Get off me.” Mick scowled pushing Jake’s arm away.   
“Oh don’t be like that. You know if you were a hero, how much fun you could have! Girls would practically throw themselves at you! You’d probably be the most popular guy in school!” Jake exclaimed loudly, drawing the attention of everyone in the commons area.   
“I don’t like attention now, why would I want people to bother me more?” Mick said sternly shoving Jake’s arm off him.   
“You need to live a little, maybe I need to get you some action or something.” Jake teased as Mick scowled once more.   
“Get bent Jake, what do you want anyway?” Mick barked.   
“Just wanted to chat, I mean, we are friends right?” Jake teased as Mick looked at him bitterly.   
“We haven’t been friends since you turned into a man-whore, and stole my girlfriend.” Mick stated as Jake smiled crookedly.   
“That was years ago dude! You need to let that go-” Jake paused as his eyes widened, causing Mick to turn at see her walking in, bouncing red hair, tied up in a high ponytail. Natasha’s beauty was catching the eyes of every guy in the commons, and the fury of every girl. “I want a piece of that.” Jake muttered as Mick clinched his fists tighter.   
“Girls aren’t just sacks of meat you know.” Mick growled as Jake ignored him, walking into the crowd of guys gathering around Natasha, as Davis and Jerren walked up from the library.   
“What’s the crowd for? A fight or something?” Davis asked noticing the fury in Mick’s eyes.   
“Not even close, a new girl.” Mick said as if he hadn’t met her before as Jerren and Davis shrugged.   
“She’s probably out of our league if they’re gathering like that.” Jerren laughed as Mick broke a smile. 

The crowd dispersed as Natasha walked towards the office, the faces of the boys still mesmerized. Mick understood how they felt, Natasha was gorgeous, but they didn’t know her like he did. “Why don’t we try to introduce ourselves, who knows, maybe we won’t strike out as hard as they did?” Mick said, as Davis and Jerren stared curiously.   
“Ok, but when she strikes us down, you better not spiral into depression like you did over Laynie.” Davis said as both Jerren and Mick scowled.  
They walked slowly to the office, as Patten walked up from the bus entrance. The doors opened, as Natasha walked out, looking at the four boys curiously. Mick bit his lip, unsure if he wanted to say anything as Natasha looked down, her bangs falling in her face.   
“So uh, you must be new here. Um. Can we, uh, maybe show you around?” Davis said, his voice trembling. She stared curiously between Mick who was amazed at Davis lost confidence, and walked behind Patten to hide his embarrassment.   
“Hi, I’m Mick, this is Jerren, Davis is the one hiding, and that’s Patten, and you are?” Mick choked out, as Natasha smiled looking up at them, keeping her cover completely in tact.   
“Nice to meet all, I’m Natalie.” She said as Jerren, Davis, and Patten swooned over her silky smooth voice.   
“Cool, I saw the crowd of guys, and figured you might want some body guards or something. I know, we don’t look like much other than a bunch of nerds, but people tend to ignore us, so maybe that might repel the legion of guys that are going to try to swarm you as soon as we step out of these doors.” Mick responded as he received a confused look from his friends about his sudden burst of confidence.   
“I’ll take you up on that, nerds.” She said with a smile, as Davis, Jerren, and Patten stared dumbfounded. “So what do we do while we wait for classes to start?” She asked, as Mick led the way out of the hall, to be greeted by the stunned look of every boy that stood outside waiting for Natasha’s return.   
“We tend to hand out by that bush over there, and talk about games, and other nerdy stuff.” Jerren said, coming to grips with the fact she was actually following them.   
“Sounds fun.” She responded trying to hide her amusement at the bitter looks the four boys were getting.   
“Why hang out with boys, when you can hang out with a real man?” Jake said, pushing his way between Jerren and Natasha.   
“Back off, Jake.” Mick hissed as Natasha flicked her hair elegantly causing Jake to swoon.   
“So, you consider your self a real man because girls fall for your long hair and blue eyes?” Natasha asked as Jake’s eyes widened, and a smile crept across his face.   
“That and I know how to show a girl a good time.” He retorted as Mick scoffed.   
“Is that so, and just what is a good time? Tricking girls into crawling into bed with you?” She snapped as the smile on Jake’s face faded quickly.   
“Tsk, whatever. Act like you know anything about me. Hang out with these nerds, and you’ll just find disappointment. Trust me, you’ll come crawling to me when you want to have some real fun.” Jake responded bitterly, as he walked away dejected. 

Mick was highly amused by the way she handled Jake, as well as the fact that she was hanging out with them. He didn’t like all the eyes on them, but, it was a price to pay to be close to Natasha, or Natalie tried to stick in his head. 

Coulson had arranged it so that Natalie was in a class with each of the four of them, as well as majority of her day with Mick. That made Mick smile, even more when he realized Natalie was with him in band, and at lunch. They spent lunchtime talking about classes, and dealing with people constantly interrupting to try to ask her out. She was really good at shutting people down without completely crushing their spirit. It surprised and terrified Mick. After school, they met on the way to the band room for practice. “Coulson gave me the little bit of info they uncovered on the Coven, which honestly isn’t much. What do you know about them?” Natalie asked as Mick smirked.   
“They’re a group of outcast girls, wear heavy black makeup, and they took in my old friend Alice. I’m betting they are the reasons behind Davis newfound fighting prowess, and Jerren’s tech abilities. I don’t have any proof behind that hunch though, as I can’t get close to them. They seem to hate me for no reason.” Mick explained as they paused outside the band room.   
“Isn’t Alice in the band?” Natalie asked.   
“Yeah, she plays the saxophone. I’ll try to introduce you, if she’ll even talk to me. By the way, you never said you played clarinet.” Mick said suavely.   
“There’s a lot about me you don’t know, trumpeter.” She teased as they walked into the band room. 

Mick pointed out Alice, who was as cold as ever to Mick, so Natalie could introduce herself. They seemed to get along decently, before they sat down for practice to start. He glanced at her often, and was embarrassed every time, because she’d shake her head and smile. Mick tried to not be infatuated by Natasha, but he couldn’t help it. He was attracted to her, just like all the rest of the boys in the school, and it sucked, because he was sure she knew it.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10:

Mick sat in his room finishing up his homework, as well as thinking about the events of the day. He slid his economics book into his backpack, then opened the bottom draw of his dresser, uncovering his Recluse costume. He wanted so bad to go out and investigate more, but, he had no way of getting around easily. He wouldn’t be sixteen until May, and it was only August. He considered calling Davis, but he really didn’t want to be a bother.   
He closed the drawer as his door opened. “Hey, you got a phone call, it’s a girl!” his sister, Andy said raising her eyebrows suggestively handing him the phone.   
“Uh, hello?” Mick said unsure of who would be calling him.   
“How’s it been Tiger?” Laynie’s voice made his heart flicker, followed by guilt.   
“It’s uh, been fine. How’s the new school?” Mick said shutting his door, so Andy wouldn’t eavesdrop.   
“It’s been stress free, no monsters, no heroes, just plain old boring. I did see you were on the news though.” She teased as Mick smiled.   
“Yeah, some kind of dog attack, we’re investigating it.” He said, forgetting that Laynie didn’t know about Jerren and Davis joining the team.   
“We? Are you working with that Shadow guy? Are you sure you can trust him?” Laynie asked, followed by Mick filling her in on the new advancements.   
“And no, I don’t trust him.” Mick finished.  
“It’s pretty cool you have a team now, and that it’s your friends.” She said, with a sigh.   
“What’s the matter, you sound upset.” Mick questioned, as silence was the only answer.   
“I miss you, Mick. I wish I could’ve stayed there.” She answered as he felt his heart break. He wanted her to stay too, more than she knew.  
“I-” Mick paused as he noticed Laynie sobbing. “Laynie, it’s better this way. At least there you’re safe.” Mick said, when he really wanted to tell her that he wanted her here too.   
“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have called. Goodbye Mick.” She said, then hung up before Mick could respond. He bit down on his lip, as he felt tears swelling. He threw himself on his bed, as the waves rocked back and forth, reminding him that his life was just as uneasy. Everything waves were everywhere, constantly moving him, nothing was still and easy. 

The next day, Davis picked him up for school early, to notice the heartbreak on his face. “She called you didn’t she?” Davis asked solemnly.   
“Yeah.”   
“Do you want to talk about it?”   
“No.”   
“Want to play hooky? I’ll think of something to help clear your mind?” Davis suggested as tears fell down Mick’s face.   
“I can’t, I need to be there, what if something happens?” Mick asked wiping his eyes, trying to mask his pain.   
“Dude, come on, you know just as well as I do, you’re in no shape to deal with people. I tried to tell her not to call you, when she called my sister.” Mick looked curiously at Davis. “You didn’t know her and Cassie are friends?” He asked only to be met silence.  
“Look man, how about we get the group together, and we’ll go hang out? Shoot, I’d even call Natalie if I had her number.” Davis said trying to perk up Mick. “Doubt she’d skip school to hand with us though. I think she just likes that we’re not drooling over her like everyone else.”   
“Yeah right, you could’ve filled up a pool with how wide your mouth was open.” Mick snarked, with a small grin.   
“There you go. So what’s the play, boss? Want to go to school or not?” Davis asked as Mick bit his lip debating, until his phone began buzzing. He reached quickly grabbing it, unsure of who it was.  
“Hello?”   
“Mick, you need to get to school now. Your friend, Shadowfury, well he’s here, and has a guy cornered.” Natalie’s voice commanded then the phone disconnected.   
“We need to get to school, but I need my special suit.” Mick said unzipping his gym bag, and climbing into the backseat of Davis’ truck.   
“Something happen?” Davis asked, quickly backing out of the driveway.   
“Shadowfury is attacking a guy.” Mick said attempting to change as Davis drove quickly.   
“How does your secret agent guy know that? I thought he left Denham?” Davis asked, swerving his way through traffic.   
“It wasn’t him. Just get me to the school quickly and in one piece, please.” Mick said as he started changing.   
“Those web shooters are under the seat somewhere, thanks for letting me practice with them.” Davis said, as he sped up to avoid the yellow light.   
“Keep them, my natural ones haven’t been acting up lately.” Mick said looking up to see the school. “Let me out as soon as you turn in.” Mick requested pulling the mask down over his face, as Davis nodded. Davis barely avoided hitting a the car he cut off to turn, as they let him know with their horn.   
“Go! I’ll be right behind you!” Davis said unlocking the doors.   
“You don’t have a costume!” Mick said jumping out of the truck, and webbing to the side of the building.  
“Like that’s going to stop me! I can just be a good samaritan!” Davis said slamming down on the gas, causing the door to close itself with the forward momentum.   
Mick shook his head, using the webs like a slingshot, shooting his way onto the roof, and quickly running across the building until he saw Natalie trying to talk to Shadowfury. He jumped down without thinking, landing catching the attention of Shadowfury, who wrapped his blade around Natalie’s throat. “What’s your deal? I thought you were supposed to be a hero?” Mick asked sternly.   
“I thought you kept to yourself?” Shadowfury retorted as the blade danced around Natalie’s throat.   
“Let her go, then we can talk like grownups.” Mick demanded as Shadowfury moved his blade, shoving Natalie away.   
“Talk this!” Shadowfury said, slamming his blade through the boy’s chest behind him, who tried to run, pinning him to the wall.   
“Casey!” Mick said, as horror filled his voice.   
“Oh, so you know people here? That must mean you’re a student, not just a random hero.” Shadowfury said, turning away from his victim to face Recluse and Natalie.   
“So what if I am, I’d bet your a student too, attacking people on school property.” Mick growled, as Casey began to cough up blood. Fury flooded Mick as he glared at Shadowfury.   
“I’ll show you mine, if you show me yours.” Shadowfury taunted with a sadistic tone.   
“If you can distract him, I’ll try to help the boy!” Natalie said, causing Shadowfury to laugh darkly.   
“Distract me, no cutie, you’re going to deal with him for me.” Shadowfury said, as his hands moved quickly, making strange almost symbolic gestures.   
“What do you think you’re doing?” Mick asked as he lunged, only to be met by Natalie tackling him.   
“I’m sorry, it’s not me! He has some kind of control on me!” She said angrily.  
“How do you like my shadow possession? Pretty neat trick, huh?” Shadowfury teased, then ripped the blade from Casey’s chest, dropping him to the ground, blood pouring out.   
Natalie then grabbed Mick’s throat, as Shadowfury walked over slowly. “Why don’t we just see who’s behind the mask?” He taunted, as Natalie tried to fight pulling up on the mask. Shadowfury then howled in pain, as Davis slammed his backpack into the back of his head, which released Natalie, show quickly rolled off Mick, and nodded.   
“You stupid boy!” Shadowfury yelled swinging his blade, barely missing Davis, who made an extremely lucky backstep.   
“Over here, Psycho!” Mick said shooting a web, catching Shadowfury’s sword, yanking it from him.   
“Oh you’re going to regret that.” Shadowfury threatened, running at blinding speeds, then slammed Mick into the wall, knocking the sword from his hand. Mick responded by head butting Shadowfury, then webbed his arms to his side as he staggered backwards.   
“Game’s over pal. I knew you weren’t trustworthy.” Mick growled, as Shadowfury laughed maniacally.   
“You think that’s it? You clearly don’t know how ninja’s work. Later!” Shadowfury teased ripping his hands free of the web and throwing down three white balls as smoke burst around him, followed by laughter.  
Natalie ran over to Casey who was unconscious and covered in blood, as Mick and Davis looked around, confused at empty spot where Shadowfury once stood. “We need to call 911, he’s lost a lot of blood.” Natalie said, as Mick punched the wall furiously, tearing the gloves of his suit as his first cracked the bricks, as well as bloodying his knuckles.   
“I called them as I was running up. Recluse, people are starting to get curious, you might want to disappear.” Davis suggested as Natalie looked at Mick pretending to be curious.   
“So you’re the Recluse they were talking about?” Natalie said as Mick nodded, then noticed the blade sitting on the ground.   
“Yeah, I’m the would be hero, if I could actually save anyone.” Mick said, leaning down picking up the bloody sword, looking between it and Casey, then ran and jumped onto the roof. He ran with the sword in hand to the edge of the building by the student parking lot. He jumped down and snuck into Davis’ while there was a lull in cars pulling into the large parking lot. After changing into his school uniform he stuffed the sword under the back seat in the truck, using some ripped towels and work rags to hide it from view.   
He walked slowly towards the commons area, as the sirens from police and first responders closed in. Davis and Natalie sat by the unconscious Casey, trying to slow his bleeding best they could, as Mick’s heart sank. He ran over towards them, hoping that Casey was going to survive. Teachers kept the other students back as the first responders arrived, with that hopeless look on their faces, at the amount of blood loss, as they quickly worked on Casey, and got him to the ambulance. Principal Wax’s face was full of concern as he lead Mick, Davis, and Natalie to the office to question them. He left them alone his is office as he called the school board.   
“How did you know to care for him like that, Nat?” Davis asked as Mick and her shared a look.   
“I was on an army base, you see a lot of things there.” She said looking down at her bloody hands, clearly worried about the safety of the boy she tried to help.   
“If you say so. By the way, are you two dating?” Davis asked bluntly, as Mick’s composure dropped, and the color in his face faded.   
“No! Why would you say that?” Mick snapped glaring furiously at Davis, as Natalie shook her head.   
“Dude chill! It was just a question!” Davis said as Principal Wax peeked into the office to make sure no one was fighting, then walked back out. “Then why do you two seem so close? You just met yesterday.” Davis asked after a moment as Natalie sighed.   
“We spent a lot of time together, we’re in the band, remember?” Mick tried to cover her as she just smiled, shaking her head.   
“Look, whatever’s going on with you two, that’s your business, but clearly, there’s more that meets the eyes here.” Davis said, then slumped back in his chair.   
Mick and Natalie shared another look between each other, as if she understood his frustration with lying to his friends, followed by a huff from Davis. Principal Wax then walked into the office, closing his door, then sat behind his desk. He quickly went over the intercom canceling school, and sending all students to their homerooms until their parents picked them up. After he made the announcement, he looked at the three kids in front of him, and began to question them on the events that transpired. 

They walked out of the office together, with the secretary walking behind them to make sure they went to their cars to leave. Natalie climbed in Davis’ truck along with the two boys. “Since we didn’t pick up Jerren, he should be at home right?” Mick asked as Davis shrugged.   
“I’d bet on that, but his mom is going to flip if we show up, especially since the news vans are showing up.” Davis pointed out, as two different news crews pulled into the faculty parking lot.   
“Let’s get Patten, and then we’ll head to Jerren’s. Maybe if we’re lucky, she’ll be out on errands or something.” Mick said as Davis glanced at him curiously.   
“What are you planning?” Davis asked.  
“I want Jerren to make me a weapon like you have, but more like a sword.” Mick said as Davis coughed loudly, motioning his head to the back seat where Natalie sat.   
“Natalie, I’m secretly Recluse. There. Now she knows.” Mick said as Davis stared dumbfounded at the boldness Mick presented, as they stopped at the red light at Cockerham.   
“I thought you weren’t telling anyone your secret!” Davis exclaimed as Natalie chuckled.   
“We can trust her.” Mick said as Davis shrugged. “I did see an interesting pattern with this attack, and I need everyone’s thoughts.”   
“You think this Shadow punk has a method?” Davis asked bluntly.   
“Everyone has a method, sometimes it’s just hard to see how they tick.” Natalie remarked.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11: 

They gathered together in Jarren’s new room, which was much larger and closer to the back door of the house, giving him more space from his parents. After discussing the events from the morning, Jerren and Patten continued to shoot skeptical looks at Natalie, due to Mick spilling his secret to her so quickly. “Look, she’s pretty smart and she was right there with us.” Mick explained as Jerren and Patten frowned in disapproval. 

“What’s this theory of yours?” Davis asked trying to change the subject.   
“Well, based on the people attacked, I think I can guess who’s next.” Mick said as everyone stared curiously. “Both people had connections to Jake Carson, both were really close to him, so I’m thinking that he’s next.”   
“Really? Why would someone go after that perv?” Patten asked.  
“Maybe whoever Shadowfury is, Jake screwed his girlfriend or something?” Jerren suggested, as Natalie seemed to focus on something else entirely, looking away from the boys.   
“What? You don’t look like you agree at all.” Mick said looking at Natalie.   
“I’m still focusing on those weird hand gestures, and how he took control of me like that.” She remarked with a frown.   
“That bugs me too, it’s like I’ve seen them before, but I can’t place where.” Mick said looking away in thought.   
“Now that you mention it, I agree. I’ve seen that before.” Davis said as Patten smirked.   
“What did he call that move again?” Patten asked.   
“Shadow possession.” Natalie replied.   
“Shadow possession. No way.” Patten mumbled sliding over to Jerren’s computer, opening up to a quick web search, staring dumbfounded at the images before him. “Shadow possession, like the ninjutsu from Naruto.” He mumbled again.   
“Wait, what?” Davis said looking over Patten’s shoulder, staring at the screen in shock.   
“Yeah! I know it sounds crazy, but look at this! Shikamaru uses that in the anime!” Patten exclaimed as everyone crowded around the computer in shock, watching the animation of the character with the exact same hand motions.   
“How is that possible though? I’ve heard of super powers, but ninjutsu being real seems a little off.” Natalie remarked, then sat back on the bed.   
“I don’t know, if I can be attacked by a psycho mutant with spider powers, and witches can summon hell hounds to attack people, I don’t think anything should be ruled out.” Mick retorted as an idea flashed across Natalie’s face.   
“What if they’re connected?” She suggested as Jerren nodded in agreement, stepping away from the computer.   
“She’s right, what if the coven created Shadowfury to be some kind of hero?” Jerren suggested as Patten turned, looking at them skeptically.   
“So you believe the coven gave you the weird tech genius you have now?” Patten asked as Jerren shrugged.   
“I can’t rule out the theory.” Jerren admitted as Davis frowned.   
“Look, I put in a lot of work to learn to fight, so I don’t think that’s the case.” He said as Patten shook his head.  
“So who all has powers in this little group?” Natalie asked as Mick smirked.   
“Everyone except Patten. I’m Reculse, as you saw earlier, Davis has crazy agility, and a neat fighting prowess, and Jerren is a tech guru now. Patten is overwatch, and partners with Jerren while Davis and I do the heavy lifting.” Mick explained as she nodded.   
“Interesting.” Natalie answered, trying to sound surprised.   
“Since we’re telling secrets, why don’t you tell us who you really are? I said it earlier, there’s more to you that you’re telling us.” Davis said staring at her curiously, as she responded with a curious look of her own.  
“Let it go. She’s just a transfer student who join our band of misfits.” Mick scowled as Natalie shook her head.   
“No, it’s fine. You guys need to be able to trust me in order for us to complete the mission, and the only way that’s going to happen is if I give you a reason to trust me.” Natalie responded as Davis, Jerren, and Patten looked curiously, while Mick looked uneasy.   
“Nat, you don’t have to do this.” Mick said, as she smiled.   
“My real name is Natasha Romanoff, I work for a secret agency that looks into strange happenings, and really bad people.” She said as Davis smirked.  
“You mean that homeland logistics thing, like that Agent Coulson guy that Mick talks to when things go bad?” Davis said proudly.  
“Yeah, them. She’s here as a plant, to help us figure out what the heck is going on. She’s also the one who trained me in combat.” Mick admitted as Natalie rolled her eyes and shrugged.  
“So what do we call you then? Natasha or Natalie?” Jerren asked sincerely, to be met with her soft laugh.   
“Nat, or Natalie just to keep my cover.” She said with a wink as Jerren blushed, looking away.   
“Now that all our secrets are on the table, what’s the plan of action?” Mick asked trying to bring everyone back to focus.   
“Well, I’ll continue investigating the Coven, as that’s my mission anyway. You guys work on figuring out who and what this Shadowfury is.” Natalie replied, as Mick walked out of the room.   
“Where’s he going?” Davis asked, as they heard the door open and close.   
“No clue, maybe he just needs some air?” Patten suggested as they heard the door open and close again.   
“Check this out.” Mick said walking back into the room, holding the bloody sword of Shadowfury.   
“Is that what I think it is?” Patten asked looking at the crusted blood, over the curved blade.   
“Yeah. He left that behind when we fought, I wanted to see if I could clean the blade, and maybe have a way to fight him.” Mick stated with a smirk as Natalie looked as if she disapproved.   
“You shouldn’t have that.” Jerren said with an empty tone, along with a blank expression.   
“What? Are you feeling ok?” Mick asked, as Davis turned, his face pale with the same blank expression.   
“You shouldn’t have that.” Davis and Jerren said in unison in the same hollowed tone.   
“Mick, there’s something off about this.” Patten said as Jerren and Davis walked slowly, in a strange almost zombie like fashion.   
“It’s like they’re possessed!” Natalie said, reaching for Davis. He pushed her arm off, knocking her over the bed in the process.   
“Snap out of it!” Mick growled as the sense in his head screamed danger. He shook his head, as he turned, running out the back door, only to hear Jerren and Davis snarling, as they followed.   
“That doesn’t belong to you.” They said in unison as Mick jumped from the pool deck onto the top of Mrs. Bennet’s shop, as Jerren and Davis stood snarling like dogs on the deck behind him.   
“What’s gotten into you two? Is this what Alice meant by the price they paid?” Mick asked as devilish smirks crossed Jerren and Davis’ face.   
“Too bad for you, he’s going to find you, and kill you. It was fun Mick, or should we say, Recluse.” Jerren and Davis said in unison, and then collapsed onto the ground.   
“No!” Mick yelled, jumping back to the deck, as watching as his friends woke up from their trance, with very confused looks on their faces.   
“When did we come outside?” Davis asked sitting up, looking at the fear on Mick’s face.   
“Don’t worry about it.” Mick said standing up, slamming the blade into the fence that surrounded the deck, as Natalie and Patten watched from the patio.   
“So, they really did do something to us?” Jerren asked, as Mick refused to turn around and look at them.   
“Don’t worry, we’ll figure out how to fix you.” Natalie said confidently as Mick pulled the blade back through the fence.   
“First things first, I’m going to need a weapon to face off against ninja boy. Can you make me a sword, but similar to Davis’ staff?” Mick asked Jerren, who nodded.   
“I’ll need some materials, but I’m sure Patten and Davis can work on that while I get set up!” Jerren said cheerfully, then ran into his room to get started, with Patten and Davis patting Mick on the back, then following behind.   
“We’ll save them.” Natalie said putting her arm around Mick.  
“You don’t know that.” Mick said looking at the sword in his hand, and the hole it put in the fence.   
“You don’t know we can’t. We don’t know enough about the Coven to say what we can or can’t do.” She said softly as Mick turned his head away from her.   
“I need you to train me, I can’t afford to lose to that ninja. No matter what it takes, I need to be able to beat him at every turn.” Mick said, with his voice cracking. His emotions were going wild, between rage and fear, he just wanted to scream. Natalie leaned her head on him trying to comfort him, as she felt the warm tears falling, as he leaned his head on hers. This was not how he wanted things to be, and he stood there, watching the pieces of his world slowly falling apart.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12:

After hours training in the back yard with Natalie, Mick felt drained. Jerren walked outside with a rounded saber in hand. “Want to stop for a moment, and I’ll show you how it works?” Jerren said as Mick nodded, standing up watching as Natalie pinned Davis once again.   
“So no sharp edges?” Mick said as he took the blade into his hands, amazed at the lightweight feel.   
“You said you wanted it like Davis’ staff, and I know how much you don’t like blood.” Jerren smirked.   
“You know me well.” Mick said looking at the blood all over his jeans.   
“Do you feel the trigger on the hilt? Press it, and it sends electric pulses through the blade, which, like Davis’ staff, is enough to put someone on the ground.” Jerren said, then Mick swung the blade, then pressed the trigger down, causing the blade to crackle.   
“This is pretty cool.” Mick exclaimed as Natalie walked over, interested.   
“Want me to make you something too? Maybe some kind of taser like wrist bands?” Jerren asked as Natalie smiled, pulling up her black jacket sleeves, revealing the prototype widow’s bite that the RND team at S.H.I.E.L.D. created.   
“These work pretty well, but thank you.” She said as Patten walked out with cups of water in his hands.   
Mick turned to the sword that was stuck in the ground, as his mind wandered over his inevitable fight with Shadowfury. He didn’t feel ready, especially not after spending the afternoon training. It made matters worse, that it was already announced they weren’t canceling school any more, they were just going to increase security. Worse than that, Recluse was now wanted for questioning. That annoyed Mick more than anything. No one questioned him for the homecoming event, but this they want to question. Natalie offered to bring in a handler, but Mick declined, saying they could handle this alone. 

The next day, Mick waited for Jake to show up, and kept an eye on him from the moment he stepped on campus. The police were clearly visible no matter where you were on campus, which made Mick’s job much harder. The Coven clearly had him in a corner, and he wasn’t very happy about it. “How am I supposed to protect Jake from Shadowfury, if I can’t change into my costume?” Mick mumbled as his friends chuckled.   
“Hey, at least you have a costume that’s yours alone. Mine’s just an expensive Nightwing replica. I’m sure someone would recognize me even with the mask on.” Davis joked.  
“You could always just throw on the hoodie, and keep the khaki’s.” Patten suggested as Mick stared at him. “I know, hoodie and heat isn’t ideal, but it’s better than revealing yourself to everyone right?”   
“Yeah, I guess.” Mick admitted, as Natalie placed her arm around him, motioning at Jake who was surprisingly walking over to them.   
“So you two are a thing now, eh Mickey B?” Jake asked, with immense amounts of sarcasm.   
“Yeah, you can say that.” Natalie responded as Mick and his friends tried not to look too shocked at the angle she was playing.   
“Making a man out of a boy, huh? When you get tired of playing around with your toy, you can try out a real man.” Jake taunted with a wink, then walked towards Alice and the coven.   
“I hate that guy. Maybe I should let Shadowfury kill him.” Mick said, glaring as Jake stopped and spoke with Alice.   
“That’s odd. They don’t talk to anyone outside of their coven.” Natalie said, as everyone watched. Jake then turned, winking with a crooked smile, then walked towards the front office.   
“I don’t like this. Something feels wrong.” Mick said, followed by a thunderous boom.   
Heads turned as a blur whizzed passed them, followed by heavy wind. “What the heck was that?” Mick yelled as he tried to followed the strange blur, as it dashed around campus.   
“We need to check it out!” Patten suggested as it vanished heading towards the library.   
They quickly ran towards the library, they heard a crackling, and saw the blur stop, with a brunet girl standing in front of the library with a smile from ear to ear. With another crackle, she vanished into a blur once again, racing passed Mick and his friends, as they sat there, amazed yet confused. “Another super powered person?” Jerren said amazed.   
“Yeah, just what we needed. More super people.” Mick said sarcastically, as screams echoed from the commons area.   
They turned to see a pillar of ice over the science building, and students fleeing towards them. “Oh great, now what?” Mick fussed as they ran against the crowd to see what was going on. A pale brunette stood horrified staring at her hands which had snowflakes swirling around them despite the intense summer heat, and a figure, frozen in the center of the icy pillar.   
“We need to get a handle on this, fast.” Natalie said as Mick dropped to the ground clutching his head in pain.   
“What’s the matter?” Davis asked, as he and Jerren pulled Mick to his feet.   
“My head, it’s like alarms are screaming! I can’t focus!” Mick yelled, his eyes tightly closed, welling with tears.   
Loud yells could be heard as the security guards closed in on the girl, who seemed to be crying, held out her hands terrified as they surrounded her pointing guns at her. She dropped to her knees as spears of ice impaled the surrounding officers causing them to scream in agony. Thankfully the injuries didn’t seem life threatening, but the blood loss would be if no one tried to help.  
“She needs you to get her out of there Mick! You’ve got to focus!” Davis said as they pulled out his hoodie from his gym bag holding it out to him.   
“I don’t know if I can!” Mick said as the girl screamed in terror at what she had done.   
“Fine, I’ll do it!” Davis growled as he slipped into the hoodie, and pulled the web shooters over his wrists.   
“No! You could get hurt!” Mick yelled as Davis activated the web shooters by tapping the watch face. “Stop!” Mick yelled reaching out a hand as Davis shot a web line to the ice pillar.  
“Someone’s got to help.” Davis said, followed by a second web line. He used the lines to jump onto the roof of the science building, then raced across the awning towards the girl.   
“You’re just going to let him take your place like that?” Patten fussed as Mick dug through his gym bag, looking for his other mask.   
“No, I’m going too.” Mick growled, pulling the mask over his face, jumping onto the roof after Davis, unconcerned about his lack of costume. 

“Stay back, please! I can’t control it!” The girl cried as snow swirled around her, though Davis was unfazed.   
“Look, I can help you! We’ll get you somewhere safe! We’ll even help you to figure out your powers, trust me!” Davis said as she looked up, recognizing the costume.   
“You’re the Recluse?” She asked, her voice trembling.   
“Sorta. I kind of work with him.” Davis said as he eased closer, as sirens blared signaling more officers would be arriving soon. “We need to hurry, I’m going to shoot a web line to you, then I’ll pull you up.” Davis said as Mick caught up to him.   
“Who’s that?” She asked, seeing the Recluse mask on Mick, as well as his school uniform.   
“Look, we’ll explain later, right now, we need to get you out of here before the guys with guns get here!” Mick yelled, as Davis shot a web line, pulling her towards them.   
The awning began to freeze as the girl climbed up and began to cry, her fear clearly consuming her. “Come on, focus! I know it’s hard, trust me, we’ll get you safe.” Mick tried to reassure her, as they ran across the roof of the science building.   
“Ah, so you found a friend did you?” A familiar voice taunted from the ground.   
“It’s him.” Davis said, as they paused, seeing Shadowfury standing beside Jerren, Patten, and Natalie with his blood stained sword pointed at them.   
“Take her and go. I’ll deal with him.” Mick growled as Davis nodded, leading the girl away.   
“How do you like that? Spiderguy is a student after all.” Shadowfury taunted, as Mick jumped down from the roof, standing between him and the student parking lot where Davis was heading.   
“Let them go, this is between you and me.” Mick growled as Shadowfury turned his focus from the direction Davis was running to him.   
“So let me guess, because I know this band of misfits. One of you is Mick, the other is Davis, so the big question is, which one are you?” Shadowfury teased, easing his blade closer to Natalie. Mick lunged quickly, Shadowfury dodging, slamming his fist into Mick’s back, sending Mick crashing to the ground.  
Mick quickly rolled, webbing Shadowfury’s face, positioning himself between Shadowfury and his friends once again.   
“Oh you seem to have this all wrong. I’m not here to fight. I was here to save the day from that monster that you just rescued.” Shadowfury said ripping the web from his mask.   
“That ice isn’t her fault. Something clearly triggered those powers.” Mick said as Shadowfury laughed.   
“You don’t get it do you? The Coven makes both heroes and villains. I’m the hero, they make me villains to kill. It’s really that simple.” He taunted, as Mick ran at him.   
“Those are people too! You can’t just kill them like they’re some kind of game!” Mick screamed, punching Shadowfury, knocking him to the ground. He scowled as he pulled his mask away from his face enough to spit out blood.   
“I treat them like the animals they are! You see the poor girl she turned into a popsicle? She’s going to die in that pillar if no one gets her out! But that wouldn’t matter so much, as her speed powers are going to be a problem soon enough too.” Shadowfury yelled running and kicking Mick in the chest, sending him crashing into the bricks of the science building. “Now, I’m going to save the other girl for later, and then I’ll track down the ice queen. You get in my way again, and you and all of your friends die too.” Shadowfury growled, then snapped his fingers, releasing Natalie and the others from their shadow bindings as they fell to their knees.   
Mick scrambled to them helping them up as Shadowfury ran off. They heard gunfire and screams come from the commons area, as Mick realized what was happening. “We need to get that girl to safety. Natalie, you drove right?” Mick said ripping the mask off his face, slamming it into his gym bag.  
“No, but I can help Davis.” She said as Mick nodded, picking up his bag to leave.   
“You’re just going to let him kill those cops? They have families too, you know.” Jerren said, as it hit close to home. Mick knew that Jerren’s dad was a cop as well, so this was a hard situation.   
Mick threw his bag down and pulled the rest of his suit out, stripping down, and changing while the others made sure no one could see him. He pulled on the mask again, as Jerren handed him the blade once it was reassembled. “You guys make sure Davis get’s out of here with that girl. I’ll handle this part. Natalie, please keep them safe too. If this goes any worse, Coulson is going to be ticked.” Mick ordered, then ran into the commons area, as his friends ran towards the parking lot. 

Several officers laid injured on the ground, as Shadowfury continued attacking with no regard for their survival. Mick quickly webbed the blade from Shadowfury, before he could slice into another officer. Shadowfury glared at Mick, then knocked the officer to the ground with a swift kick, then made several hand motions followed by wind blasting from his hands pushing the officers into the walls of the main hall. “I told you to stay away.” Shadowfury yelled, walking slowly towards the ice pillar where Mick stood.   
“You’ll come to find out, I’m not a good listener.” Mick growled, as he noticed the hole of melted ice where the girl with speedy powers he saw by the library laid shivering.   
“See, Ice Queen is a monster, but so is Speedy here.” Shadowfury teased his eyes fixed on her, as if she were prey.   
“You won’t hurt her. I won’t let you.” Mick threatened standing between Shadowfury and the girl.   
“Oh I don’t have to, you see, if she doesn’t warm up soon, she’ll die from hypothermia. You on the other hand.” Shadowfury paused glaring at Mick. “You will die by my blade!” He lunged at Mick grabbing the blade on the ground then swinging, as Mick parried the attack with his own blade.   
“New toys, where’d you get that? Jerren make it for you, eh Mick?” Shadowfury taunted as the rage in Mick burned. He clutched the blade tightly as Shadowfury laughed. “You see, a small price we paid, Amber unlocked our true potential with the power of the demonic book, the Darkhold It’ll grant a person a wish, which usually comes with the small price of her being able to look into our minds and control us when she feels the need. Too bad for her, when she granted my wish, I met the demon she summoned, and he wants her dead. She’s pretty slick about granting wishes, but he wants more of a higher price, and as long as she holds that book, he can’t get what he wants due to her wish.”   
“So that’s your game, release a demon from something called the Darkhold?” Mick asked as Shadowfury nodded. “Won’t she see that in your head?”   
“No, the Wish-Demon prevents that from happening, it was part of our little deal when we met. She doesn’t even realize she can’t control me anymore.” Shadowfury laughed, then ran at Mick, clashing blades again. This time Mick was prepared, he squeezed down on the trigger, as electricity surged through his blade into Shadowfury’s, causing him to stagger backwards and drop his blade.   
Mick reacted quickly to the opening, shooting webs pinning Shadowfury’s arms to the wall. “Too bad you won’t get to see that happen.” Mick growled, as Shadowfury struggled to break free. More sirens echoed through the commons as Mick turned and smashed his way into the ice pillar picking up the girl, and walking back to face Shadowfury once more.   
“This isn’t over, I will get out of this, and when I do, I’m going to enjoy taking away everything you’ve ever cared about.” Shadowfury threatened as Mick walked over to him, jamming the edge of his sword into Shadowfury’s side, then squeezing the trigger. Shadowfury screamed in pain, until he passed out. Mick then pulled back his blade, placing the small hilt on his belt, and slid the girl onto his right shoulder, reaching with his left hand for the mask of Shadowfury. As he grabbed it, everything went black. Mick staggered backwards, shaking his head. Once things returned to normal, he noticed Shadowfury was gone.He sighed as he heard helicopters in the distance.   
“P-please, I’m so c-cold.” The girl murmured, as Mick nodded.   
“I’ll get you safe.” Mick said softly as he ran to his gym bag. He covered her with his school uniform the best he could, then picked her up and carried her in his arms towards the police and ambulances outside the school.   
Police quickly surrounded with their guns pointed at him, taking the girl, and cuffing him. It was clear they wanted to remove his mask, but were ordered to wait until they got him in the car. Crowds of students and teachers watched as they lead him towards the fleet of SUV’s and cars. Mick was alone in this choice, but it was the only way to show that he wasn’t a villain like Shadowfury. He complied, as they guided him to the large SUV, then into the back seat.

“Very interesting, I didn’t think you’d turn yourself in like that. That’s a bold play.” A familiar voice said from the front seat, causing Mick to smile and look up.   
“It would be you, wouldn’t it.” Mick said sarcastically, yet happily, as Coulson turned around, with a smile.   
“Natasha told us yesterday you were acting recklessly and that I should have a meeting with you, so they pulled me from my mission to handle you.” Coulson said as Mick sighed. “That’s the kind of call a leader makes, turning yourself into the police like that. What made you do it?”   
“I didn’t want them to think I was the villain. As much as I hate the attention, I’d rather expose myself as the hero, than be brandished like a monster. Also, I know what the Coven has been up to.” Mick said confidently.   
“Alright, let’s get you un-cuffed, and you can fill me in on the way to the safe house.” Coulson said as Mick spun around in the seat so Coulson could unlock the cuffs.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13: 

“What’s your name?” Natalie asked as the brunette girl looked over at her solemnly.   
“Samantha Lane.” She replied, with her voice trembling.  
“What happened out there, it wasn’t your fault. You had no idea what the Coven did to you.” Jerren said trying to soothe her.   
“They didn’t give me these powers. I don’t even know what the Coven is, or who that guy that was trying to attack me is.” Samantha said as Natalie looked at her curiously.   
“Then where did your powers come from?” Patten asked as Samantha kept quiet.   
“You’re a mutant.” Natalie said astounded, as Samantha bit her lip.   
“So she’s like that freak that bit Mi- Er. Recluse” Davis asked as everyone shook their head.   
“I’m not a freak!” Samantha yelled as snow flurries danced around her hands, causing her to gasp and clasp her hands together.   
“Calm down, he just doesn’t think through what he says. Why don’t you tell us when you started to get your powers.” Natalie said soothingly, while glaring at Davis.   
“Today is the first time something like this happened. I was just trying to go to my locker, and Katherine just appeared behind me, and then the pillar of ice just kind of happened. Oh gosh I hope she’s ok! Those officers! The ice just impaled them! I’m such a monster!” She said as her voice cracked, followed by sobbing.   
“You’re not a monster. It’s going to be ok. Patten, guide Davis to this address. It’s the safe house I’ve been staying in.” Natalie said, putting her arm around Samantha trying to console her.

************************************************************************************

“So you think they have the book containing forbidden knowledge, and it grants wishes to the holder by means of a demon? Are you high?” Coulson asked as Mick sighed.   
“I know how crazy this must sound, but that’s what Shadowfury said.” Mick insisted.   
“You have no idea the kind of crazy I deal with on a daily basis, and this tops some of that. What about those two girls with powers you mentioned, any idea’s where they are?” Coulson asked.   
“One is in the ambulance, probably on the way to the hospital. The other girl, she’s with Natalie- er- Natasha.” Mick answered as Coulson looked at him curiously. “Natalie is her cover name.”   
“I know. I was a part of the set up team for her cover.” Coulson laughed as Mick rolled his eyes.  
“You do everything don’t you?” Mick asked as Coulson just smiled.   
“I bet they’re on the way to the safe house, unless that girl froze them.” Coulson said as Mick looked out the window.   
“Should’ve guessed she’d have a spy house.” Mick joked as Coulson chuckled.   
“So you really just let your friend take your suit like that?” Coulson teased as Mick scowled.   
“He’s awful persistent, and it’s not like he gave me a choice, he just kinda did it.” Mick replied.   
“The clean up for this mission is going to bring me mountains of paperwork, and I hate paperwork. You owe me big time kid.” Coulson teased as he drove quicker.   
“Maybe I can make it up to you by joining your agency after graduation?” Mick suggested as Coulson chuckled.   
“After? I was thinking about interning you, and making you fill it all out for me.” Coulson joked as they both chuckled. 

They arrived at the safe house, as Natasha met them at the door. “Good to see you, Coulson.” She said as he nodded.   
“The girl was born with powers.” Natasha said as Coulson stared blankly.   
“What? Like a mutant? I’ve heard of that being possible, but never dreamed I’d see one.” Coulson said as Mick stared skeptically between the two.  
“I know, but it’s worse, she has no control of her powers. When her emotions sway, her powers activate.” Natasha replied as Mick stood speechless.   
“So, we have a teenage girl with deadly ice powers, and they’re all based on emotions. This is just great.” Coulson said as they walked inside. 

Mick looked at the girl sitting on the couch, her face painted with fear and confusion, then tossed his mask over towards her, catching her attention. “Looks like we have something in common.” Mick said, as she stared curiously. “We both have super powers. I’m Mick, otherwise known as Recluse.” The girl smiled, then looked towards Natasha and Coulson, then back at him.   
“I’m Samantha, you can call me Sam.” She said comfortably.   
“Glad you’re safe. You can trust us, we’re the good guys.” He said confidently as Sam blushed.   
“You should know, I can’t control my powers, so I may not be the safest person to be around.” She said as her smile faded.   
“Your powers are way different from mine, but, see this?” Mick said pulling up the sleeve on his costume showing the web lines on his wrists. “I had these for a while before I learned what they did, and if I can control it without webbing up my friends and family, you’ve got this.” Mick said as she smiled again, he was even surprised how reassuring he sounded.   
“Will you help me then?” She said, grabbing his arm as he started to get up.   
“Yeah, I can’t make any promises that it’ll work the same way as mine, but I’ll try.” Mick said smiling at her. There was something odd about her, that just made him want to help her more than usual. 

After a few talks with Coulson, they all agreed that the best thing to do was find out where Amber Leighton was, and if she really has the Darkhold. It wasn’t long before more agents showed up at the safe house, making it feel rather crowded. Davis was cooped up with Patten and Jerren watching TV in one of the rooms, while Mick had grabbed Sam’s hand to lead her outside, and away from all of the spy talk. He knew that if she was caught up in it, that it would really upset her, which could bring out some really devastating results.   
They stood together in the back yard, looking at the ten foot tall fence. “Let’s see if we can get some control of those powers.” Mick suggested as Sam looked at him curiously.   
“What do you mean?” She asked as he pulled his hand out of her, and brushed her face, showing just how cold she made it unwillingly.  
“I think the first thing we should do, is figure out how they work. When I first learned about my powers, I found out I had super strength by accidentally crushing one of the posts on my bed, you can imagine how fun that was to try to explain when people saw it. Once I figured out I had powers, I had to teach myself how to control them. It took a few weeks, but it worked. I broke some much stuff with the strength part it’s really kind of funny when I think about it.” Mick said remembering the many broken Super Nintendo controllers.   
“What do I do?” She asked timidly.   
“Focus on your hands, because that’s where the cold seems to be coming from, and see if you can generate more cold from them. It should be like flexing a muscle that you didn’t know you had.” Mick said, placing his hand in hers.   
“Are you crazy! What if you get frostbite or something?” She exclaimed pulling her hands away.   
“I trust you’ll figure it out, besides, how else can I tell you if it works if I don’t feel the cold go away?” Mick asked smiling, as she looked away unsure, but placed her hands on his anyway.   
“Don’t get mad if I can’t do it.” She said softly as Mick shook his head. As she began to focus, she felt it. It was exactly as he said, a muscle that she never knew was there. She focused heavily, closing her eyes, imagining it tightening, then released. She opened her eyes to see Mick smiling, as if he were impressed. “Did I do it?”   
“Yeah, I felt the warmth of your hands for a second there. Good job!” Mick applauded as Sam jumped, hugging Mick, then locked eyes with him. It was a moment of pure joy, as she leaned in, kissing him. The moment seemed to last forever until the door opened, and the two jumped away from each other.   
“I did not expect that.” Natasha said as Mick blushed, embarrassed and horrified. “We’re ready for you, Mick, just when you’re finished out here.”  
“I- Uh, yeah. I’m coming.” Mick stuttered as he looked at Sam who’s face was red, and eyes locked on the ground. “I’ll be back in a minute.” He said nervously, following behind Natasha. He bit his lightly as he placed his hand on the door, trying not to smile too much as the emotions swept through him.

“You thought kissing her would be a way to control her powers?” Natasha teased as he walked through the door.   
“That wasn’t part of the game plan.” Mick said trying to cover up his smile.   
“You sure seemed to enjoy it.” She teased as Mick turned from her, trying to hide the redness in his face.  
“Shut up, it’s not like we’re really a thing anyway.” Mick retorted as Natasha giggled and made a kissy face.   
“If you two are finished, I’d like to get this meeting started.” Coulson said as they quickly snapped to focus. “So our target is a young girl, about sixteen, and she’s in possession of an 0-8-4. It could be a very dangerous item. Do not harm the girl. Recluse, Black Widow, and I will take point, you are to provide cover for us.” Coulson said as some of the agents frowned. “We’re also trying to find this girl before a guy dressed like a ninja with super powers shows up. If you see him, do not engage, just fall back. He is extremely dangerous. There’s been at least twenty known casualties from him alone, mostly law enforcement officers.” Coulson added as the number struck Mick hard. “Any questions before we move out?”   
“Yeah, what about my friends, are they on this mission too?” Mick asked as Coulson shook his head.   
“They’re going to stay here, we’ll have a team here to keep them and Samantha safe.” Coulson replied, as Mick nodded. “Get your gear together, we move out in ten minutes.”   
Mick sighed as agents quickly began moving around the small house. He walked back outside to see Samantha holding a flower wrapped in ice in her hand. “That’s pretty.” He said as she jumped, almost dropping the flower.   
“Thanks.” She said without looking at him.   
“Look, I’m sorry I kissed you like that, I shouldn’t have-”  
“I kissed you. I didn’t realize you and Natalie were a thing, I hope I didn’t mess it up.” Sam said, still not taking her eyes off the flower.   
“It’s not like that. Natalie and I are just friends.” Mick said leaning down, seeing the tears in Sam’s eyes.   
“That’s not how it looked from where I stood. Thank you for helping me anyway.” She said, as Mick brushed the tear from her cheek.   
“Not a problem. I’ll be back later, we’re going to try to find Amber before Shadowfury does. My friends will be here with you, they’ll keep you safe, ok?” Mick said as she nodded, then looked away. He stood up, feeling like there should be something more he could do. His heart sank as he walked inside to let his friends know about the plan. Why was he feeling like this for a girl he just met? He pushed back the thoughts, as he tried to focus on the mission at hand.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

After a short ride in the back of the blacked out SUV, Mick climbed out behind Natasha, in his full Recluse outfit. He looked around the quiet neighborhood, amazed by how nice the houses looked. “So Amber’s family clearly has money, I’d have never guessed.” Mick muttered to himself. He then quickly walked over towards Coulson, who was ordering a few agents into position.   
“Everybody all set? Good, move into position! Recluse, Black Widow, on my six.” Coulson said, as everyone quickly moved.   
They then walked slowly to the front door of the large house. It seemed empty, but Coulson still knocked on the door to be safe. A few moments passed with no answer, then Coulson pulled out a small flat key. It seemed to be completely blank, but it fit into the hole perfectly. Coulson turned the key, and the door opened, then he quickly slid the key back in his pocket. “What the heck was that?” Mick asked softly as Coulson chuckled.   
“It’s a lock picker, you don’t think we just kick in doors do you?” Coulson said, as he put his hand on the pistol on his side.   
Mick’s senses began to whirl as he tried to focus on where the danger could be, only seeing the empty house, with all of it’s nice furniture. “We’re going to split up, search all the rooms, if you see something suspicious, bring it in here.” Coulson said, as Natasha and Mick both nodded.   
Mick walked behind Natasha across the living room, watching her back, then she slipped into the first room on the left, Mick into the right. The rooms were bigger than the living room at his house, with a huge bed in the center. The pictures lining the dresser indicated this must be her parents room. He looked around as the earpiece began to buzz with static. “Nat, Coulson, can you hear that?” Mick asked quietly, with no response. His stomach sank as he quickly ran out of the room, seeing Natasha walking out of the room across from him.   
“Find anything?” Natasha asked as Mick let out a sigh of relief.   
“Nothing other than the fact these people are loaded.” Mick responded as Natasha let out a soft laugh.   
“That was the guest room, so I’m guessing one of these two should be Amber’s.” Natasha said as she tapped the earpiece.   
“So yours is making that noise too?” Mick asked as she nodded.   
“You check the rooms, I’m going to check on Coulson. It’s way too quiet.” Natasha said, walking back into the living room.   
Mick took in a deep breath, walking towards the door on the left of the hallway. He slowly opened it, seeing that it was much darker than the other rooms. The walls were painted black, with papers that were colored black featuring strange symbols in blood red. “This must be Amber’s room.” Mick said to himself as he walked in slowly. His head pounded with warnings of danger, but he saw nothing. Shaking his head he walked towards her dresser, looking at a strange leather clad book, with odd symbols. He picked it up, taking a closer look, seeing a list of names and pictures of people in it, some crossed out in the same blood red color as the symbols on the walls. “Coulson, I think I found something.” Mick said, turning around to see Amber, eyes glowing yellow, snarling at him.   
“You shouldn’t be here Mick Bellouve. You should have stayed away!” She said with a demonic undertone.   
“I have a thing about not wanting to hit girls, so if you could just-” Mick was just off by a burst of green energy blasting him into the wall. He fell as Amber reached for the book. He quickly webbed it, pulling it out of her reach, and back to his hands. Her hands had more green energy swirling around them, this time Mick dodged the blast.   
“Where’s the Darkhold Amber? That thing is clearly controlling you!” Mick asked as she glared at him with a wicked smile.   
“Why don’t you make a wish? Maybe then I’ll tell you the answer.” She teased walking closer to him.   
“Uh, no. I’m good. Thanks though. You can just tell me where the book is, and we’ll be out of your way.” Mick said, climbing onto the wall out of her reach.   
“No! Without the Darkhold I’m weak! The book has given me strength, power to actually do things on my own, and I’m going to use that how I see fit!” She screamed, blasting at Mick, who narrowly dodge it, but slammed his head on the roof, then fell to the floor.   
She walked over towards Mick as he clutched his head in pain, running her hands over his shoulders. “I can make it all better for you, I can take away all of your pain.” She said in an alluring voice.   
“Get off!” Mick said spinning around webbing her hands to the wall, standing up to face her. Gun fire interrupted his thoughts, as his mind jumped to Coulson and Natasha. He saw them pinned down in the kitchen by humanistic shadow like creatures. The image vanished as the green energy burned through the webs freeing Amber.   
“Maybe we should work together to save them? It’s clear we have an enemy in common.” Amber said as Mick stared curiously.   
“What are you talking about?” Mick asked as Amber smiled wickedly.   
“I know Shadowfury is after the Darkhold, thanks to you and your friends. Remember, I can see what they see.” She teased as Mick grumbled.   
“I forget about that sometimes. Fine, I guess we don’t have much of a choice.” Mick growled as he heard Natasha yelling. “You’re still going into custody after we save them.” Mick said aggravated, as he and Amber ran into the living room, seeing Shadowfury standing there.   
“I was hoping you were here too. Your little friends won’t last too much longer, so why don’t you make my life easy, and hand over Amber.” He said darkly, his eyes fixed on Amber.  
“That’s not going to happen! You’re both going to pay for what you’ve been doing, but you’ve got the higher body count than she does!” Mick yelled pulling the blade from his side, running at Shadowfury. Electricity sparked around the two blades as they clashed. Mick jumped back as Shadowfury slashed through the energy blast from Amber. Shadowfury slammed his sword into the ground, his hands moving as fast as lightning into strange configurations, followed by four clones appearing by his sides.   
“Let’s see you keep up with four of me!” They all said at the same time, each holding a sword, ready to attack.   
“Four on two would seem rather unfair, but four of you kinda makes it more balanced for just one of me.” Mick taunted, launching a stream of webs at one, as another sprung at him, locking blades with him. Mick danced around, clashing blades with two Shadowfury as Amber continued blasting her green burst at the one chasing her. Mick narrowly ducked a swing from one of the Shadowfury’s as it sliced through the other, causing it to vanish in smoke.   
“Mick!” Amber screamed as the blade from the Shadowfury chasing her slid into her shoulder, pinning her to the wall.   
Mick stood horrified as he heard Coulson and Natasha struggling in the kitchen, combined with a Shadowfury standing over a pinned down Amber. Mick screamed out in rage jamming his blade through the Shadowfury behind him, electricity sparked causing it to burst into flames. “That’s pretty dark there Mickey-B. What if that was the real me?” Shadowfury said, as horror filled Mick. Mickey-B? Only one person ever called him that and they knew it annoyed him to no end. Shadowfury wasn’t after Jake, he was Jake!   
“You monster!” Mick screamed, lunging at Shadowfury. Shadowfury ripped the blade from Amber’s shoulder, blocking the onslaught of attacks from Mick. They locked blades as, then Mick kicked him through the wall into the kitchen.   
Coulson and Natasha were behind the counter, as Shadowfury landed beside them, followed by Mick jumping onto him punching him repetitively. “Call off your creatures or so help me I’ll kill you now!” Mick yelled, his hand on Shadowfury’s throat as Shadowfury snapped, and the creatures vanished.   
“What about the girl?” Coulson tried to ask as Mick ignored him, ripping the mask off Shadowfury to see him vanish into smoke. A scream came from the living room, as Mick, Coulson, and Natasha ran in, seeing Shadowfury standing there holding Amber in the air by her throat.   
“She dies today, then the Darkhold is mine.” He growled as Coulson and Natasha both aimed at him, until he turned, using Amber as a shield.   
“You know what, Amber I do have a wish. I wish I had that book in my hands.” Mick yelled as her hands flickered green, then the book appeared in his hands. He looked at it fiercely, seeing the white leather cover and blood red letters, reading Darkhold. Shadowfury dropped Amber, running at Mick, who lunged at him. Shadowfury slashed at Mick, who blocked with the Darkhold. Shadowfury recoiled as if in pain, as he ripped the sword from the book, and Mick laughed darkly.   
“What’s the matter? Are you scared of what’s going to come out if you destroy the book?” Mick taunted backing Shadowfury into the corner by the fireplace, as Coulson and Natasha grabbed Amber.   
“You wouldn’t be so stupid. If that thing gets out, then he’s going after everyone who Amber gave powers too! That includes your friends!” Shadowfury said, fear filling his voice.   
“Amber, one more wish. I wish this thing would go back where it came from.” Mick said as Shadowfury screamed in rage, lunging for the book, as it vanished into smoke.   
“No! No! I’ll kill you! That was supposed to be ultimate power for me!” Shadowfury screamed, slashing wildly at Mick, slicing into Mick’s leg.   
Mick screamed in pain as Shadowfury stabbed his blade into Mick’s other leg, then Mick responded slamming the end of his blade into Shadowfury’s chest, squeezing the trigger. The electric surge launched Shadowfury backwards, crashing into the brick fireplace, then collapsing to the ground. Mick dropped the blade clutching his legs, as Coulson and Natasha ran to him. “Get that monster, I’ll be fine.” Mick said gruffly, as he pressed down on the hole in his leg, trying to slow the bleeding.   
Agents poured in as they began to clean up the mess, one sticking up the wounds Mick received. “Was that the real Darkhold you just wished away like that?” Coulson asked, sounding a little agitated.   
“No. This is.” Amber said walking into the room with the gray leather bound book, followed by two agents.   
“Take that from her and put it in the van. The Directer is going to want to put that somewhere safe.” Coulson said as Amber fell to the ground in pain. “What’s happening?” He yelled as the two agents flew against the wall.   
Mick without hesitation used his webs to rip the book from Amber’s hands, stabbing it with his blade, burning it with the electricity. Amber cried out in agony as the book vanished into green and black smoke. “Why did you do that?” Coulson asked furiously.   
“That thing is too dangerous for anyone to have, surely you see that too.” Mick said exasperated, as Coulson still seemed mad, but understood the reason.   
“Is that going to take away the powers from your friends?” Natasha asked as Mick shrugged.   
“I think all it really did was bring out natural talents. I don’t believe for a second a demon can create things, only manipulate them.” Mick said as Natasha helped him up.   
“So you think all of the people had powers before they made wishes with the Darkhold?” Coulson asked as he helped Natasha carry Mick to the SUV.   
“Yeah, only because of how you said mutants can actually be real. What if those powers that the Darkhold unlocked were just dormant?” Mick suggested as Coulson seemed to buy into the idea.   
“It’s a theory, but then how does it explain your friends gifts?” Coulson asked as Mick looked away.   
“I think it just added to their natural abilities. Davis doesn’t have powers, he’s just a skilled fighter, and Jerren has always had a thing for technology. The others that had powers unlocked were killed by Shadowfury so we can’t really question them, with the only one I know of alive being that girl we saved earlier.” Mick replied as they laid him in the backseat.   
“So you think Amber has wish granting powers?” Natasha asked climbing into the front seat.   
“No, she’s got energy manipulation. I ate a blast of that earlier, and it reminded me of Sam’s powers with how she used it.” Mick said as Natasha turned and looked at him.   
“Then how did she slip you that book?” Natasha asked.   
“Slight of hand. She used the energy to make it appear like that. She had it in her hands when we came into the living room to face Shadowfury, so I figured she dropped it somewhere during the fight.” Mick said pulling the mask off his face, leaning on the door.   
“This is going to be a lot of paperwork.” Coulson sighed as the engine roared to life. “Speaking of paperwork, did you think about if you and your friends would like to join the S.H.I.E.L.D Academy?” Mick was stunned, on one hand, he would get to go to a secret agent school, truly training to be a hero, but on the other, he would have to leave his life and family behind.   
“I’ll bet they’ll be excited.” Natasha said with a smirk.   
“Yeah, I bet they will be.” Mick said, almost emotionless. He halfway wanted to go, but if his theory was true, would he really be able to leave his family behind in the aftermath without someone to protect them?


	15. Chapter 15

Part 3: The Burdens We Bare...

Chapter 15

A few weeks passed, and the small town of Denham Springs finally felt normal. Mick told Jerren and Davis about the offer Coulson presented, and they seemed completely on board to go. Patten had the same thoughts as Mick, not wanting to leave the other people he cared about. Mick and Sam spent time together working on developing her powers. Patten picked on them for being such a cute couple, and despite Mick’s protest. Natasha had returned to HQ not long after the cleanup, as she had another mission. 

“You’re really not going to transfer to the Academy with us?” Davis whined as Sam rolled her eyes.   
“No, I’m staying here, someone has to protect the home front. You guys go and have fun, we’ll get to hang out during your breaks.” Mick said smiling.   
“I don’t get it, you seemed like you’d be on board with secret agent training, and going on spy missions with your powers would be a breeze!” Jerren added in.   
“He just wants to stay here with his new girlfriend.” Davis said teasing as Sam stared at Mick curiously.   
“Let’s drop it for now. You guys don’t leave until January anyway, let’s make the most of what we have left of this year.” Patten suggested, seeing the annoyance on Mick’s face. 

Classes seemed to drag on forever, but once the bell rang, the group met up in the parking lot between Jerren and Davis’ cars. They were finally free from having daily debriefs with Coulson’s agents, now they could go to Jerren’s house and relax in the evenings. “Did you hear, Jenna lost her powers that Amber gave her.” Sam asked as she and Mick climbed into Jerren’s car.   
“Hmm. That’s strange, I figured those people had dormant powers that were just awakened.” Mick said scooting closer to Sam.   
“Really busts up your theory, huh?” Patten said climbing into the front seat.   
“Not really, they could’ve just returned to their dormant state. Maybe they weren’t ready to activate? I mean, Sam’s powers just happened on their own right?” Jerren asked as she agreed.   
“If that’s the case, maybe they’re just dormant until something else triggers them?” Patten asked as Mick looked at his wrists, seeing the thing white lines fading more.   
“At least you have friends to help compensate for yours. She’s just back to a normal person.” Sam said as Mick smiled.   
“What if Patten is right, what if Jenna’s powers require a special trigger to activate, like maybe she’s born with them but they’re in a dormant state, and the magic Amber had could only activate them for so long? What happens when the real trigger activates them?” Mick asked as Jerren nodded considering that possibility as he put the car in drive.   
“If that were the case, she’d be something different from a mutant. I don’t know how feasible the idea is, but it’s certainly possible. Who know’s maybe there’s a lot of people out there with dormant powers that live out their lives without ever finding out. That’ll be one of my first research projects at the Academy!” Jerren said excitedly.  
“You gonna keep Davis in check while you’re there?” Mick joked as everyone laughed.   
“I can’t make that promise, but I’ll try. Where’s he going anyway?” Jerren asked as Davis’ car passed them.   
“I think he’s running to the store or something. That’s why I’m riding with you. More game’s less whining about missing Natalie.” Patten said.   
“I can’t wait to actually sit back and play video games again. These last few weeks have really sucked our free time dry.” Mick said as Sam nodded, staring at him with her brown eyes sparkling in the sun light.   
“You’re still going to work with me though right?” She said in a playful tone.   
“Ha! You’re like his number one priority.” Patten teased, quickly shutting up as Mick punched his seat.   
“I bet Natalie is the whole reason Davis is joining the Academy.” Jerren said changing the subject, as they all laughed.   
“Yeah, probably.” Mick teased.   
“At least she couldn’t give him a cold shoulder like a certain someone.” Patten laughed.  
“Oh shut up! That was one time!” Sam laughed.  
“Uh huh, I beat you one round in Smash, and you just accidentally freeze my hands.” Mick teased as Sam giggled at the thought.   
“You two would make such a cute couple!” Patten teased, jumping out of the car as Mick swatted at him. It wasn’t like Mick didn’t consider it, but he wasn’t sure how to handle dating, for him or for Sam.

They spent as much time as they could together, getting together every weekend. They knew things were going to change, and they did. The first half of the semester flew by, and with it, Jerren and Davis left for S.H.I.E.L.D. Academy. The rest of the school year went by with a few kids with powers popping up, but nothing that was noteworthy. One boy found out he had invisibility, and used in in ways unsurprising to anyone, until Sam caught him. That was the last time he snuck into the girls locker rooms. A girl learned she could fly, which made her excel in the long jump. Mick and his friends didn’t bother with her, as she wasn’t hurting anyone. Before they knew it, school was out, and with it, they would be seeing Jerren and Davis soon. 

“Any idea’s when they’ll get here?” Patten asked impatiently pacing around the airport.   
“No, I haven’t heard from Coulson since before my birthday. He’s been tied up on that plant explosion that happened in West Virginia.” Mick replied.   
“Jeez, that’s no help at all.” Patten said as Sam laughed.   
“You’re acting ridiculous. Calm down.” Sam teased as Patten rolled his eyes tuning her out.   
“Their flight’s going to be here soon, the board says so, now sit down and play your game.” Mick said as Patten scowled.   
“I love that we all still play Pokemon.” Sam said as she returned her focus to her game.   
“Yeah, it’s always been fun. What’s so different about Emerald though.” Patten asked as he pulled his Gameboy Advance out of his pocket.   
“A lot. You should get it! It’s definitely worth it.” Mick replied as they all focused on their games. 

Before they knew it, Jerren and Davis’ flight was here, and unloading. “They’re going to freak when they see your bike Mick.” Sam said rubbing Mick’s shoulders.   
“Yeah, it’s going to blow Davis’ mind for sure!” Mick replied as they watched Davis and Jerren walk into the lobby.   
“Welcome back, you look rugged.” Sam said as Davis rubbed his full face of hair.   
“Yeah, they don’t make you shave while you’re in training, so I didn’t.” Davis said with a smile as Jerren rolled his eyes.   
“They make us shave, because we deal with dangerous chemicals and things that go boom.” Jerren said as Davis laughed.   
“I dealt with things that go boom too. Mine just go boom in the direction I want and not on my face.” Davis joked as everyone hugged.   
“Did you guys make any new friends?” Patten asked as Davis nodded.   
“Yeah, Jerren found this really funny nerd team, girl named Jemma, and guy named Leo-” Davis started as Jerren cut him off  
“Fitz. He goes by Fitz. They’re pretty funny together. They’re like magnets, sometimes they seem to work in harmony, and sometimes they push each other away.” Jerren smiled looking at Sam and Mick standing together. “So are you two a thing yet?”   
“What? Shut up!” Mick said as Sam smiled, they had been talking about it now, but she wouldn’t agree until he met her parents.   
“Well, big question now is, how long are you here for?” Patten asked as they walked to his car.   
“We’ll be here until August first. So, about three months. Think you can handle getting your butts kicked in Smash for that long?” Jerren asked smugly.   
“We’ve been practicing, and you’re going to get your butts kicked.” Sam teased as they climbed into the car.   
“Did you hear about that crazy explosion up in Virginia? Some guy transformed into a monster or something, and has been working his way up to Canada!” Davis said excitedly   
“A monster? No, I heard it was a plant explosion, and then I’ve been out of contact with Coulson ever since.” Mick replied as Davis spun around from the front seat.   
“Guy named Banner turned himself into a monster! They considered sending us out, but Director Fury didn’t want us newbs involved. I wanted to go so bad and see this for myself!” Davis exclaimed as Mick nodded.   
“Yeah, it’s supposed to be a hush situation. From what we gathered, they were trying to recreate the Super-Soldier serum or something like that. It’s too bad it didn’t work. I’d love to see a hero like Captain America again, no offense Mick.” Jerren said looking out the window.   
“If it makes you feel better, you’re brother’s safe. He’s supposed to be home in a few weeks.” Mick said as Jerren smiled.   
“I hate it that he’s over there in Afghanistan, but I guess it makes him a hero too.” Jerren said glumly.   
“Yeah, I hate it too. I wish it could be done and over with, maybe one day.” Mick said as they looked out the windows.


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Mick wasn’t sure how school was going to be without two of his best friends around, but he wasn’t going to let anything slow him down this year. With Patten and Sam by his side, they were determined to make it an amazing year full of memories. With everyone except Sam driving, it made it easy to keep the trio on the move. Mick had worked with Sam on her combat skills, as well Patten even got in on the training just to be safe.   
“Mick, when are you going to ask her?” Patten asked as Mick looked over at Sam, who was napping on the couch after the hard afternoon of training.  
“I don’t know man, I mean, I really like her, but there’s too much risk there.”   
“What’s the risk? She’s clearly into you!” Patten said wiping the sweat from his forehead.   
“What if it doesn’t work out and I lose her as a friend?”   
“I don’t think that’ll happen man, she’s stuck around us for almost a year. It’s not like the Laynie situation, Sam’s here to stay.”   
“Yeah. You’re right.” Mick said smiling at the thought of being Sam’s boyfriend. He had thought about it endlessly over the last year of them hanging out, he couldn’t get that kiss out of his head for weeks, then they just played it off as friends. So many training sessions ended with them face to face, and it took every ounce of strength he had not to kiss her.   
“So when are you going to do it?” Patten asked looking at the infatuated smile on Mick’s face as he stared at Sam.   
“I want to do it the old fashioned way. I’m going to ask her dad first.”   
“You better catch him on a good day. He looks like he could kill you with his pinky finger.”   
“I don’t know, he’s been pretty cool about us hanging out this long.”   
“That was before he thought you were a threat. You’re asking out his daughter.” Patten said as Mick thought about it. Sam’s dad was a pretty muscular guy, and paired with his intimating composer, this was going to be no easy feat, even for a guy with super powers.  
“This is going to be fun.” Mick said as Sam stretched looking at the boys staring at her.  
“What?” She asked as Mick shook his head and Patten laughed.  
“This is going to be fun.” He teased patting Mick on his back. “I’ll drive you guys home. It’s getting late, and we have classes starting tomorrow!”   
“Yeah, my mom wanted to get us together and take pictures for out first day. It’s been a tradition since we were little. You guys want to join?” Sam said as Patten nudged Mick.   
“Yeah, sure. Sounds fun.” Mick stammered as he glared at Patten. 

Mick arrived at Sam’s house to pick her up on his bike, as her dad was outside on the porch waiting. “Good morning.” Mick said placing his helmet on the handle bars.   
“Look, you’ve been around Sam for a year now, what’s your game kid?” He asked as Mick felt a lump growing in his throat.   
“What are you talking about?” Mick asked nervously.  
“I’m not an idiot. I can see you have a thing for my baby girl. I just want to know, what’s your game plan?” Mr. Lane said as he stood up, towering over Mick.   
“Ok, fine. I really like Samantha, a lot.” Mick paused as he tried to recompose himself. “The better friends we became, the less I wanted to ruin that by throwing a boyfriend girlfriend thing into the mix.” Mr. Lane smiled as he watched Mick sweat.   
“Let me tell you something. She really likes you, and the only reason I let her hang out with you is because of that. If you hurt her, I know ways to hurt you that you can’t even understand.” He said as Mick nodded nervously.  
“I believe you.” Mick muttered as Mr. Lane laughed.   
“Your buddy told me you wanted to ask Sammie out when he brought her home yesterday, is that true?” He asked as Mick nodded nervously, despite his minor annoyance with Patten.   
“I wanted to ask you first.” Mick said as Mr. Lane smiled.  
“That’s real considerate of you. You have my permission, but just know kid, you hurt my little girl, you’ll wish you were dead.” He said, his face as serious as Mick had ever seen.   
“Ye-yes Sir.” Mick said as Mr. Lane laughed at the fear on Mick’s face. It was one thing to face danger as a super hero, but to face danger like this, was another kind of fear all together.

They walked in as Sam and her sisters stood in front of the small fireplace, taking pictures. “Hey! You made it!” Sam said beaming as she ran over to Mick, embracing him.   
“Told you I would. Patten was still sleeping when I tried calling him.” Mick said his face flushed with nerves and fear of Sam’s dad watching them.   
“Let’s get a picture of the two of you together!” Sam’s mom suggested as Sam smiled, pulling Mick towards the fireplace, as her sisters left to catch the bus. After a few clicks, Sam went to grab her bag so they could leave, leaving Mick alone with her parents.   
“So you’re ok if I ask Samantha on a date?” Mick asked her dad nervously as her mom letup with excitement.  
“Yeah. No funny business though.” He said as Mick nodded nervously.   
“Oh this is going to be so exciting! Sammie getting her first date!” Her mom exclaimed as Sam walked in seeing the worry on Mick’s face as well as the smile on her mom, and strange look on her dad’s face.   
“Is everything ok?” Sam asked as her mom stood up and hugged her.   
“Oh it’s wonderful! You two have a good day at school!” She said, letting go of Sam, and returning to the chair next to her husband.   
“We’ll try, hopefully this year goes smoother than last year.” Sam said hugging her dad, then walking towards the door, curious about the looks being shared between her dad and Mick.   
“You take care of her.” Mr. Lane said as Mick opened the door for Sam.   
“I will, I promise.” Mick said shutting the door behind him.   
Sam had pulled the extra helmet out of the saddle bag by the time Mick walked over to her, his nerves were eating him alive. “Why do you look so nervous, you’ve drove me to school plenty of times.” Sam said as Mick bit his lip, walking close to her.   
“Yeah, but not like this.” He said as he looked down, their faces close together.   
“Like what?” Sam asked with a smile, as he leaned in and kissed her. It was as if angels sang, lights shining from heaven, and fireworks going off. Time slowed down allowing them the moment that felt like a lifetime.   
“Sam, I really like you. Will you be my girlfriend?” He asked as their faces were inches apart, as she responded embracing him with another kiss. Mick heard giddy noises coming from the porch, as they both looked embarrassed seeing Sam’s mom standing there. Mick climbed on the bike, sliding on his helmet, and biting his lip in embarrassment.  
“Bye Mom!” Sam said biting her lip, then climbing on the back of the bike.   
“Have fun!” Her mom replied as they drove off.   
“What are we going to tell Patten?” Sam asked, squeezing her arms tightly around Mick as the wind rushed around them.   
“Oh I’m sure he knows.” Mick said as Sam leaned her head on him. He smiled the whole way to school, sure there could be no wrong done that could take away this happiness. 

Mick and Sam arrived at school to see Patten standing by the library waiting with a big goofy grin on his face. Mick glared at him, then smiled as Sam grabbed his hand. “You think he knows?” She asked.  
“Oh he knows.” Mick responded as they walked towards him.   
“It’s about time.” Patten said meeting them on the sidewalk.   
“First off, you suck. Second, thank you.” Mick said as Sam looked at him curiously.   
“Did I miss something?” She asked with a smile.  
“Oh I just told your dad about how Mick felt about you, so they could finally have the talk.” Patten said proudly as Sam looked as Mick and shook her head.   
“So that’s what those looks were for?” She asked thinking about the morning so far.   
“Yeah. I thought your mom was going to burst with excitement when I asked.” Mick said as Sam laughed.   
“And my dad?” Sam asked as Mick shuddered.   
“He reluctantly agreed. I thought I was going to have to use my powers for a minute there.”   
“He’d have just shot you. He always has a gun on him.” Sam said as the smile on Mick’s face dropped thinking about how wrong this morning could’ve gone. 

It turned out to be a super simple year, just classes. Time flew by faster than they realized, as 2006 snuck up on them. The only stresses they faced were the ACT exams and the looming Prom. Mick was relieved, because he had forgotten how laid back life could be. Once the ACT’s were behind them, that made way for planning for Prom, then onto summer vacation and their friends to return.They had plans to spend the summer at the safe house hanging out until the start of senior year. Before any of that could happen though, Mick had a serious obligation. Going to Homecoming with his girlfriend was one thing, but going to Junior Prom, that was another monster all together.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

As spring break approached, Sam started to get heavy into prom planning. She already had drug Mick around searching for the perfect dress, shoes, and a suit for him to match. Now she was focused on hooking Patten up with his latest crush Vanessa. In between her scheming they had their moonlighting super hero jobs, taking care of the small crimes around Denham Springs, and sometimes venturing into Baton Rouge. Patten had convinced them to call their team the Trinity. Sam in her sky blue hoodie with a silver snowflake and black jeans called herself Aurora in the field. While Mick stuck with his usual blue and red uniform given to him by S.H.I.E.L.D. Patten however took over the role of Overwatch, keeping an eye on a map and police scanner so they could help.   
“Can we take a break?” Mick asked as he slumped down on a bench in the crowded mall.   
“No! I’ve got to find jewelry to go with my dress!” Sam said pulling on his arm as he tried to resist.   
“It’s just a dance Sam, you’re already beautiful without the extra stuff anyway!” Mick said as Sam glared at him. He quickly jumped up as his whole arm started to get cold. “Alright! No need for that!” Mick said as Sam giggled.   
“Where’s Patten, I thought he was supposed to be here too?” Mick asked looking towards the Gamestop.   
“Well, considering I was told Vanessa would be here, he’s probably looking for her.” Sam said as Mick noticed him in the back of the Gamestop as they passed by it.   
“Or he’s buying a new game.” Mick said as Sam stopped, glaring at Patten through the hoards of other people passing by. She and Mick walked into the store as Patten’s face went from a smile to worry.   
“What did I do?” Patten asked nervously as Sam frowned.   
“What happened to meeting Vanessa?” Sam asked as Patten shuttered.   
“I liked it better when it was just us guys wandering around the mall.” He said as Sam smiled.   
“Oh you know you love me!” She smirked as Patten shrugged. “Seriously, where’s Vanessa?”  
“She’s at the food court, I just talked to her. We already agreed to the prom thing, what’s your deal now?” Patten asked as Sam stared at him blankly.   
“I want you to tell her how you feel!” Sam insisted as Patten tried, and failed, to shush her.   
“Speaking of telling how we feel.” Patten said turning his focus to Mick who shook his head wildly.   
“Ixnay on the feelingsay. Got it.” Mick said glaring as Patten smiled.   
“You two are just so cute.” Patten said brushing his hand through Mick’s already messy hair.   
“Let’s go find Vanessa so we can finish getting our prom stuff!” Sam insisted ignoring the whimpering coming from the two boys. 

Once they had lunch, the girls let the boys have some free time while they went jewelry hunting. Mick was relieved he wasn’t being drug around store to store anymore, but still found himself wondering about what they were really looking for. “So you still haven’t said the big word yet?” Patten asked pulling Mick out of his thoughts.  
“No. I’m trying to find the perfect time to do it.” Mick said as they walked down stairs to the other game store.   
“Why wait? What’s the point of making a big scene about it?”   
“I don’t know. I just want it to be amazing. I think she deserves amazing.” Mick said as Patten couldn’t help but smile.   
“Mick, you’re going to hype this thing up so much that you’ll never find a good time to tell her you love her.” Patten said in his typical words of wisdom fashion.   
“What if she’s the one though? You know, the ONE.” Mick asked looking at the jewelry shop as they passed by.   
“Then you need to just tell her. Look how long it took for you to ask her out, do you want it to be like that about something this big?” Patten said putting his arm around Mick as Mick stared at the ground.   
“No. I don’t want it to be like that. Maybe I’ll tell her at prom? I’ve waited this long.” Mick said as Patten rolled his eyes.   
“Did you ever stop to think, maybe your powers are acting up because you’re trying to bottle up your feelings?” Patten suggested as Mick frowned.   
“No. I guess we’ll find out though.” Mick said as he looked up to see Sam holding a bag with a big smile on her face. 

The rest of the day seemed to fly by, as did classes that week, before they knew it, Saturday had arrived, and with it, insane amounts of stress to make sure everything went perfectly. Mick spend the day with Patten as the girls spent the day getting their hair and makeup done. They decided it would be best to spend the day playing Kingdom Hearts 2, while waiting for the girls to be ready for their dinner reservations.   
“Sam is going to be mad at you.” Patten said as Mick set down the controller.   
“Why do you say that?”   
“Spending the day relaxing while she’s off getting dolled up.”   
“Hey! I got my hair cut for tonight!” Mick said pointing at his now short hair, spiked up.   
“Dude that took ten minutes, she’s been gone since this morning.” Patten said as Mick shrugged. “Did you tell her yet?”   
“No. I’ve got it planned out though.” Mick said smiling as Patten looked at him curiously. “I’m going to tell her when we leave the prom. I’ve got a spot that we like to go in Watson and just lay under the stars. I’ll tell her when we get there.”   
“Huh. Never pictured you for an under the stars kinda guy. Hope it works out though.” Patten said as he stretched. “Better start getting the monkey suits on. It’s almost showtime.” Patten said pulling himself off the comfy couch they had been on for the last few hours.   
“This is going to be exciting.” Mick said as he reached for his bag.   
“You sure you want to wear that under your tux?” Patten asked pointing at Mick’s Recluse costume.   
“Yeah, I wear it any time we go out.”  
“Yeah, that makes sense, you and your dark colored dress shirts and jeans.”   
“Never know when or if something could happen.”  
“I guess so. Least in my case, I just look like a nice guy beating up a bad guy. You’ve got to run and hide your face.” Patten said as Mick nodded in agreement.   
“Yeah, but at least you helping doesn’t involve thousands of questions about your powers.”   
“Yeah, I didn’t say I didn’t understand. It’s just easier for me than it is for you in those situations.” Patten said with a smirk as Mick shrugged it off as he slid into his clothes. 

Patten drove Mick to pick up Sam, because they agreed riding the bike to prom wasn’t the best idea. Mick got out leaving Patten to wait while he went inside to get Sam. Her dad sat by the fireplace in his recliner, his eyes fiercely locked on Mick. “Playing the long game, eh boy?” He said as Mick stared at him confused.   
“Long game?” Mick asked as her dad smiled at him.   
“I can see your feelings all over your face. You gonna protect my baby girl?” He asked as Mick felt more nervous than ever.   
“Yeah, always.”   
“Is it enough that you’d die for her?” He asked as Mick nodded, trying to swallow the knot growing in his throat.   
“A thousand times. I’d get her the moon if she asked.” Mick said as Mr. Lane nodded.   
“I’m going to hold you to that. Now, I haven’t approved of many of the boys she’s brought around before you, so don’t go messing that up.” He said with a wicked smile, as he took a drink out of his coffee cup.   
“I don’t intend to.” Mick said as he heard Mrs. Lane taking pictures and being her typical bubbly self.   
“I’m going to warn you now, she looks pretty amazing. Don’t go drooling, and you better not get any funny idea’s either.” Mr. Lane said as Mick shook his head.   
After a few moments, Sam walked in, her dress was royal blue, with rhinestones across the neckline. Her hair curled and weaved with a small hint of a ponytail in typical Sam fashion, and a headband that looked as if it were a crown. She had the sapphire earrings Mick had bought for her for their six month anniversary, and a gold sapphire necklace from her mom. Mick stared in awe, he always thought she was beautiful, but tonight, she was radiant. He couldn’t help but smile at her as she walked into the living room. He stood up to greet her with a hug as her mom snuck around snapping pictures of them.   
“I hope you two have a wonderful night!” She said as she continued to snap pictures.   
“I hope so too.” Sam said with a beaming smile, staring up at Mick who was lost in awe of her.   
“You better get going before he starts drooling on that tux.” Mr. Lane teased as Sam giggled.   
“He’s right, we don’t want that to happen. Might mess up the pictures!” Sam teased, taking Mick by the hand, leading him to the door. 

They waited in the car, talking about how long Sam’s day was while Patten went in to get Vanessa. She was annoyed when she saw Mick had his Recluse costume on, but she understood. They had been on guard all year for some crazy event to happen, so why wouldn’t he be prepared. Once Patten returned, they all commented on how good they looked as well as talked about post prom plans. Tonight was shaping up to be the most magical night of their lives.


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

As they walked into the pavilion they were greeted by the chaperones who pointed them to the large open ball room where most of the students were. The group split up as Vanessa wanted to mingle, dragging Patten unwillingly into the large crowds, as Sam and Mick took their time, looking at all the decorations outside first.   
“This is so pretty! I’m so glad we came!” Sam said admiring the victorian style pillars with twinkling lights that were connected to an arch with ivy draped behind it, and roses intermingled.   
“Yeah. I’m glad I’m here with you.” Mick said as Sam started to blush.   
“You’re too sweet!” She said kissing his cheek. 

They walked under the shimmering decorations into the large ballroom that had the lights dimmed, a blacked out ceiling with small lights arranged like the stars, and a large twinkling ball hanging near the stage representing the moon. The walls were lined with wallpaper that looked like Hollywood, some of the cutouts were even 3D.   
“A Night on the Town indeed! They did such a good job!” Sam said in awe of how nice the room looked. Mick was relieved that everything was going so well. After a few upbeat songs, the DJ started to slow things down. Sam and Mick stayed close to the back of the room, dancing together like they were the only two there. Mick’s heart raced as he and Sam stood close together, her head resting on his shoulder and her arms wrapped tightly around him. This was the moment he wanted to live in forever. For once he didn’t care what happened to everyone else, as long as he had Sam in his arms, life couldn’t get any better.   
“You ok Mick? Your heart is racing!” Sam said looking up at him, her eyes twinkling with the lights.  
“Yeah. Everything’s perfect.” Mick said as Sam reached up kissing him. 

Their enjoyment was cut off by screams coming from the stage where the DJ was. Mick turned to see giant plants wrapped around a hand full of students, as a girl who’s face was clearly ruined by crying stood holding a crown in her hand.  
“Mick this looks like trouble! Maybe the Trinity should help!” Sam said as Mick turned to her, clearly annoyed at the situation.   
“Maybe you should let me handle this. See if you can find Patten!” Mick said unbuttoning his shirt as more vines shot out from behind the stage, wrapping around the attendee’s who were trying to free their friends.   
“I’ll get my suit from the car too! You be careful!” She said then kissed his cheek, running for the door.   
Mick tossed his jacket aside as he slid his mask on, and kicked the dress pants off, jumping and webbing his way to the wall to hear what the girl was fussing about.   
“You should’ve stayed away from my crown! I had a shoe in until you rigged the vote!” She wailed as a vine wrapped tightly around the blonde haired senior that Mick didn’t recognize.   
“Let her go!” Mick said drawing the girls attention to him. She scowled as vines shot out from the side of the stage racing at him at terrible speeds. He jumped from the wall, barely avoiding them with a spin, landing on the ground in front of her.   
“Recluse!” A few students cheered until the vines tightened causing them to whimper and gasp.   
“You’re not going to take this night from me!” The girl screamed as more vines began to dance behind her, then launched at him.   
“Urgh!” Mick cried as vines caught his feet mid jump, then two more wrapped around his hands, stretching him, causing him to groan in pain.   
“You should’ve stayed away, let me have my spotlight.” The girl said as she walked closer to Mick, staring into the screens covering his eyes.   
“Get away from him!” Sam’s voice came from the door, followed by an icy burst knocking the girl down, causing the vines to release the prisoners.   
“No! I won’t let you escape you whore!” The girl screamed out as vines swarmed the blonde, wrapping her from her throat to her feet, leaving the other students to flee.   
Mick struggled to pull himself up as he watched Sam freeze a few vines, then skate over a few ice patches on her way to the foe. “Watch out behind you!” Mick yelled as a vine launched from the door, wrapping around her, squeezing tightly causing Sam to squeak in pain.  
“Let her go!” Mick growled swinging the blade belt so that it snapped together. His moment of rage was squandered as vines wrapped around his waist squeezing the air out him. He watched helplessly as the deranged girl inched her way towards the blonde, who had fallen unconscious due to lack of air. Mick was relieved when he saw the vine shatter as Sam landed on her feet. She froze the vines holding the blonde then then shattered, as she fell to the ground lifelessly.   
“You won’t ruin this moment for me!” The girl screamed, followed by a blue flash covering her face, then crumpling to the ground. The vines ripped themselves back to the pots that were behind the curtains on the stage. Mick stared curiously as Sam shrugged unsure of the cause. Patten then walked triumphantly out from behind the curtains with a small taser like pistol in his hands.   
“I wasn’t actually sure that would work.” Patten said walking over to the girl, placing the glowing blue handcuffs on her wrists.   
“What exactly did you do?” Sam asked as her and Mick walked over seeing the crazy girl unconscious.   
“Well, after talking with Jerren, he said I should be able a stunning bullet, he helped me make a few prototypes when they were hear around Christmas. They work pretty nicely.” Patten said as Sam and Mick looked impressed.   
“I also called it in to Agent Coulson, please don’t be mad.” Sam said as Mick tilted his head looking at her.   
“Why would I be mad? I’d have done the same thing.” Mick admitted as Sam smiled.   
“We should probably get out of here before any cops show up. That stun shot should keep her down for about fifteen more minutes, and those cuffs are just for looks. Jerren said S.H.I.E.L.D. has special cuffs that keep the wearer in check, but we couldn’t figure out how to actually make it work. Most we got was the cool lights.” Patten said as Mick agreed, walking over towards the corner where he tossed his clothes.   
The slipped out the back door as they heard yelling and sirens from the front of the building. “What happened to Vanessa?” Mick asked as Patten shrugged.   
“She bailed after about thirty minutes. Something about a big party. She wanted me to bail too, but I didn’t want to leave you guys stuck without a ride.” Patten said as they walked towards the baseball field in the park. “Don’t worry, she was acting like a total,” Patten paused and looked as Sam with a half hearted smile knowing how she felt about the word he wanted to use. “Witch.” He said as Sam laughed, completely aware that he did that for her.   
“Sorry man. I know how much you liked her.” Mick said as they sat down by the fence around the baseball field.   
“Did you do your thing yet?” He asked as Sam sat up looking at them confused.   
“No. Not yet.” Mick said as Sam glanced between the two of them.   
“So much for your perfect night, huh?” Patten said leaning against the fence.   
“Nah, it’s still pretty perfect. We’re all still safe, and now we have a pretty cool prom story to tell the guys.” Sam interjected as Mick leaned forward looking at her in awe.   
“I love you.” Mick said as Sam smiled, her eyes shimmering with the moonlight.   
“I love you too.” She said leaning on him.   
“Congrats you two. You make me sick.” Patten teased as they all laughed.


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

With school wrapping up, Mick had finished making plans with his friends to stay at the Safe House for the summer. He was really surprised Coulson ok’d his plans too. They usually were only allowed to go there for official business. Patten had already left as soon as he finished finals, leaving only Mick and Sam to meet him there. Mick decided to stay a few nights with his family, giving Sam the same opportunity. Secretly he wanted Sam to smooth it over with her dad, so that he didn’t have to. 

Mick arrived late in the afternoon at Sam’s house as her dad met him on the porch. “You’ve got to be kidding me. You’re too young to be thinking about that.” He said as Mick stared at him confused. “Don’t give me that look, I can see the box in your pocket.” Mick gulped, as he forgot he hadn’t put the box in his backpack.   
“It’s, uh, not what you think!” Mick lied as Mr. Lane rolled his eyes.   
“You’re too young.” Mr. Lane said firmly as Mick frowned.   
“I know we’re too young. I wasn’t planning on it until after graduation. Plus I wanted to ask your permission first.”   
“Good.”   
“So would you give me permission?”   
“Would you lay down your life for hers?”   
“Every day.”   
“Then stop with the Trinity thing.”  
Those words pierced Mick to the bone. How did he even know about that? Mick was very careful to not tell anyone else, and Sam knew to keep it a secret too. “What are you walking about?” Mick asked as Mr. Lane smirked.   
“I know Sammie better than you think, heck, I even see right through you. I knew Sammie had powers since she was little, but they had always showed in spurts. It wasn’t until after she met you that they just seemed to disappear. I remember after homecoming she had an episode, she would chill her room in her sleep, usually when she had nightmares of a six armed monster attacking. I questioned her about it, and she told me about a brave kid in a mask that stood up to the monster and vanished. Funny enough, first day of tenth grade, I hear about the boy with the mask again, fighting off monstrous dogs, then finally after she had a flair up at school, it’s all she talked about when she finally came home.” He paused as Mick looked at the ground, he never realized how much of an impact he made on people before. “Then you show up, spending time with my Sammie, and suddenly her powers are nowhere to be seen. It’s like she got them under control, then we hear on the news about the Trinity group. Usually leaving behind some ice and webs as a calling card.”  
Mick frowned as Mr. Lane nodded at him. “But how did you know it was me and not Patten?”   
“I wasn’t sure, I suspected it was you with the way you carry yourself, and that look in your eyes that screams you’ll protect her at any cost is why. I respect what you do for this community, but leave my Sammie out of it. You want my permission to marry her, you’ve got to swear you’ll protect her like your life depends on it, because if something happens to her, it just might.” Mr. Lane said solemnly, as Mick nodded. That was a constant fear of Mick’s that something could happen to Sam in the field.   
“I’ll protect her. No matter what.”  
“Then you have my blessings.” Mr. Lane said walking down, holding out his hand.   
“Thanks.” Mick said shaking his hand. 

After the long ride piled in Patten’s car and listening to Sam’s travel music which contained the song I’m Gonna Be by the Proclaimers, they finally arrived in New Orleans. They made their way into the large airport, Patten pacing back and forth by the luggage area ready to be at home playing games. Mick stood up from his seat as S.H.I.E.L.D. phone rang. “This is Mick, what’s up?”   
“Bad news. There’s been a break out. Jake Carson, Arachnid, and Solar have escaped. It’s believed that they are working together. Your friends should be there any minute now, get your team together and get back to the Safe House and stay there until I get there. We’ll discuss more in details then.” Coulson’s voice terrified Mick, and that fear was painted all over his face as he hung up the phone.   
“What’s wrong?” Sam asked as Mick shook his head, returning to the real world.   
“A lot of bad things just happened. We need to be at the Safe House as quick as we can.” Mick replied as Jerren and Davis walked off the escalator.   
“Get your stuff, we need to move, now.” Mick said as Jerren and Davis looked at him curiously.   
“Let me guess, Coulson called?” Davis asked as Sam nodded.   
“We’ll keep everyone safe, you don’t have to worry.” Jerren said as Mick frowned.   
“This isn’t like last time. We have a team together now, and you’re much stronger and confident.” Davis said as Mick stared at him.   
“It’s worse than just Arachnid. It’s Solar and Jake too. One of which knows my secret identity, and where I live.” Mick said harshly.   
“Wait who’s Solar? Did you go crime fighting without us?” Patten asked as Mick sighed.   
“Remember that trip I took to New York? I was at the Academy, Nat taught me how to fight, and my last day, we went on a mission to stop some terrorist. Solar was with them, a mutant with fire powers. I kicked his butt, and that was that. Sorry I kept that from you. It was supposed to be a secret.” Mick replied as they climbed into Patten’s car.   
“Three people with vendetta’s against you, versus us, all trained operatives, and yes, Sam counts because you trained her. We can handle them.” Davis said confidently.   
“It’s not us handling them that I’m worried about, it’s the bloodbath they’re going to bring with them trying to get to me.” Mick replied as Patten drove. Mick stared out the window as Sam did her best to comfort him. This was worse than anything he could’ve imagined. Everyone, and everything he cared about was in danger. June 6, 2006

Mick and his friends sat at the safe house, waiting for Coulson and his agents to show up. He secluded himself from everyone as his mind raced around in terror. In his mind seeing the bodies of his friends, under the feet of Jake, dawning his Shadowfury outfit. His heart raced as Sam walked in, pale and afraid. “Mick, you may want to see this.” She said as he looked at her curiously.   
“You look like you’ve seen a ghost.” Mick said taking in a deep breath. Sam reached for his hand, as their fingers interlaced.   
“I saw something worse. Jake’s got a camera crew captive.” Sam said leading Mick into the living room.   
“This is live TV, if you want these people safe, you will bring me Mick Bellouve. Bring him to me. If you bring guns, or anyone dare to try to stop me, we will destroy everything you care about. And if you need proof of our power.” Jake paused, as the camera turned to Solar, who was charging up a fireball. “Do it.” Jake said as Solar launched the fireball into the busy road, cars and flames flying in every direction. “And that’s just his powers. You don’t want to see the three of us together.” Jake said dropping the camera, as the feed went dead, returning to the new station and the host with a look of pure terror.   
“I’m going to have to face them.” Mick said, his voice full of fear.   
“No, there’s no way we’re letting you do that alone.” Davis said angrily.   
“It didn’t sound like we have much of a choice.” Mick said as Sam clutched his hand tighter.   
“I’m not letting you go alone.” She said as the door opened.   
“You’re not going at all.” Coulson said walking into the safe house.   
“Then he’s going to kill more people.” Mick groaned as Coulson frowned.   
“We’re not going to let that happen. We have a team on their way to intercept them.” Coulson said annoyed.   
“You know darn well that’s not going to be enough. Arachnid is insane, and Jake is no better. I’m sure a year in that prison is going to screw with anyone’s psyche!” Mick yelled as Coulson stared curiously.   
“And you think a year in that prison is going to be enough time for you learn how to take on three insane super powered individuals?” Coulson asked as Mick scowled furiously. “I didn’t think so. Now, we don’t have time for you to act irrationally. If you’re going to get involved in this, then you’re going to do it my way.” Coulson sounded stern. It was abnormal for Mick to hear him like that. “Agent Grey Wolf, Agent Bennett, suit up. I’m going to need you both.” Coulson paused as Davis and Jerren stood up walking into the closet pulling out S.H.I.E.L.D. gear.   
“Did you just call Davis, Grey Wolf?” Mick asked as Coulson chuckled.   
“We let them choose their names when they make top of the class.” Coulson said as Mick shrugged.   
“He’s top of the class, that’s unusual.” Mick said smirking.  
“It’s not his intelligence, it’s all in his fighting prowess. He’s pretty good. He could probably give you a run for your money.” Coulson said as Mick scoffed.   
“We’ll see about that. Did you get a suit made for Sam? As much as I like the sweatshirt and skinny jeans look, she probably needs something a little more agent appropriate.” Mick asked, as Coulson tossed him a bag.   
“I had a few new recruits work on it, they have a lot of promise. I described both of your powers, and they made suits accordingly. Agent Bennet worked with them on your web shooters, did he talk to you about them? Jemma Simmons, and Leopold Fitz.” Coulson said as Mick opened the bag, looking at the sleek suits.   
“I’m impressed. Guess I’ll have to come up to the Academy and meet them. He did brag about them, by the way.” Mick said walking into the back room. 

“Hey, they got you a suit too. Time to change.” Mick said throwing the blue and white suit to Sam.   
“This looks comfortable.” She said, sliding the door closed. “No peaking now.” She teased as Mick laughed, walking into the bathroom. 

Mick slid into his new suit. It was all black, with a red spider emblem on the chest. The gloves were black with red web designs, as were the boots. Mick looked at the wrists investigating the newly designed web shooters. He flicked his wrist at the wall, as a web line shot out. “How interesting. It works almost like the ones that were natural.” He noted as he slid his mask on, looking at the red web designs on the black mask. He chuckled when he noticed the small S.H.I.E.L.D. insignia on the shoulders. “Nice.” Mick said, sliding on the mask. As soon as the mask was on, the eyes were strangely dark. He pulled it up, walking out to see Jerren walking out of one of the bed rooms. “How do I see out of this?” Mick asked as Jerren smiled, admiring how well the suit came out.   
“You’ve got to turn it on. It’s got advance screen systems, helping you to identify things you your surroundings, like targets, building integrity, and facial recognition. It’s really just a prototype, but it’s pretty cool none the less. Fitz came up with the idea.” Jerren said as Mick slid the mask on. Jerren quickly showed Mick how to activate the mask, then walked into the kitchen to meet Coulson. Mick stood outside the door where Sam was changing, waiting to see how she was going to look in uniform.   
“So, what do you think?” She asked, as the door opened revealing her mostly black leather suite, with a blue snowflake near the top zipper, blue gloves and boots, as well as a blue design at the top.   
“I like it. Where’s your mask?” Mick asked as she pulled it out of her pocket.   
“It’s a subtle little mask, not a full face cover.” She replied holding the blue mask to her face.   
“It’ll do the job.” Mick said as silence fell in the house.   
“Mick, you’re going to need to keep your calm when you see this.” Coulson’s voice had fear in it, which made Mick’s heart race.   
“Coulson, have you heard from my Mom, I tried calling-“ Mick froze as he walked into the living room seeing his entire family tied to posts with explosives tied around them, and Jake smiling on the TV. 

“Mick, I hope your listening, if I wasn’t clear before. I want you, alone. You bring your friends, or if those pesky Special Op’s teams show up, then your whole life goes up in smoke with the press of this button. Don’t keep me waiting Mickey-B. I’m not a very patient person anymore.” Jake taunted then cut the feed. 

Mick’s body trembled with rage, as Sam tried to grab him. Without thinking he stormed out of the house, climbing onto his motorcycle. “Mick, stop, if you go in alone you could die.” Coulson said as Mick webbed him to the wall.   
“If I don’t go alone, everyone else will die. Stay out of my way. I’ll handle this.” Mick growled as he revved his bike, peeling out as he darted down the road.   
“We need to move quickly. His emotions are leading him to a suicide mission.” Coulson said as Davis cut the webs, freeing him.  
“Can you really say you’d do anything different, Sir?” Davis asked as Sam stood in the doorway horrified.   
“No, not if that was my family. That’s why we need to hurry up and follow him.” Coulson said with a frown. 

Mick’s mind raced as he flew down the interstate, recklessly weaving his way between cars. His heart was racing as he drove faster, using his webs to bypass the police barricade. He heard them screaming, but he was going too fast to pay any mind of stop. The road between him and Jake was clear now, as he drove at dangerously fast speeds. “Hang in there guys, I’ll be there soon.” Mick said in his heart as he flew down the road. 

Mick parked his bike, seeing Arachnid standing on the large concert stage beside Solar. “Ah, you’ve finally arrived. I was getting quite bored waiting for you. I like the new suite, the red and black look almost intimidating.” Jake teased as he walked across the stage.   
“I thought you wanted Mick Bellouve, not this costumed weirdo!” Solar yelled as a fireball whipped up in his hand.   
“Oh Solar, ever the bright one aren’t you? Mick is here, standing right in front of us.” Jake taunted, his eyes fixed on Mick, as Solar looked at him confused.   
“So my venom really did give you powers then, and it was you who defeated me three years ago?” Arachnid asked as Solar stared curiously.   
“Yeah, sure did, and I’m going to do it again today.” Mick growled as Solar finally figured it out.   
“Hey, you’re that boy who had me locked up! I recognize that little spider on your costume now!” Solar yelled as Jake smiled shaking his head.   
“Boy you know how to build a team don’t you Jake, or should I say, Shadowfury?” Mick asked walking slowly towards the platform.   
“Jake is fine.” He said, pausing as dark flames swirled around him, turning into a black ninja like suit. “See, I’ve been waiting for this day for a while now. I told you, if you got in my way, I was going to take away everything you cared about. Now, today is that day.”   
“Then why bring the other two?” Mick yelled as Jake smirked.   
“They have vendetta’s against you too. Funny thing about that cursed prison, you meet a lot of people, and sometimes you make friends, then you find out you have a common enemy.” Jake said sneering as he walked slowly down towards Mick.   
“Now that I’m here, let my family go. Do whatever you want to me, just leave them out of it.” Mick growled, pulling his belt off, as it snapped into it’s sword shape.   
“Oh no, they’re going to watch you suffer, and then, maybe I’ll let them go after I see the life leave your eyes!” Jake screamed, as his blade appeared, clashing with Mick.   
Sparks showered as the two clashed, each blocking the other’s attack, as Solar and Arachnid cheered. Jake, without making a hand gesture, duplicated, catching Mick by surprise. “Make sure Mick wasn’t followed! I’ll be sure to leave him alive for you to play with!” Jake yelled as Mick narrowly jumped out from between the two attacking Jake’s. 

Mick continued to focus on deflecting Jake’s attack, then used a small opening to web the extra to the stage. Jake swore as the clone vanished, then reappeared, both attacking relentlessly. Mick was glad his clothes had some type of armor to it as Jake’s blade slammed into his arm, but didn’t pierce the outfit. Mick staggered back as his mask flickered. Jake smiled wickedly as he lunged, swinging wildly Mick barely blocking it. “You lucked up last time Mickey-B! It’s not going to end the same way this time!” Jake screamed as his swung his fist, narrowly missing Mick’s face. Mick quickly seized the opportunity, punching Jake in the gut, as he vanished into smoke, then the other jumped in, swinging the blade down. Mick rolled, webbing the back of Jake, then slinging him into the sage, as he crashed, he vanished into smoke.   
“Where are you, you coward! You wanted me, then come face me yourself!” Mick yelled as Jake’s laughter echoed through the fairgrounds.   
Mick looked around, running passed the stage, seeing his family tied to the large posts. His heart sank as walked out from behind them, holding the detonator, laughing madly. “See, I wanted them to see you for what you are Mick. See you die the hero you so desperately tried to hide. You should’ve joined me when I offered, and then none of this would’ve happened.” Jake taunted, as Mick clenched his fists.   
He quickly ran at Jake, as a clone appeared before him. Without pausing Mick slammed his blade through it’s chest and continued running, as Jake laughed. “You’re a lot more fun this way.” Jake teased pulling the blade off his back, then running to meet Mick. Mick launched webs as Jake cut through them with ease, finally clashing just before Mick could reach the post. Sparks flashed as the two blades ricocheted off one another, while Mick and Jake danced around each other, kicking up dust with each attack.   
Mick heard the cries of his sisters, and mother, which build his rage, causing him to attack more erratically, only entertaining Jake that much more. The two paused as they tried to catch their breath. Mick glowering furiously at Jake who smiled wickedly. “Why don’t you make them feel better, show them what’s under your mask!” Jake cried as Mick ripped the mask from his face, looking up at his family who seemed to be comforted by the fact Mick was trying to save them. He quickly turned his focus back to Jake pulling the mask back on then running at him.   
They locked blades once again, as a voice came from behind them. “Lookie what we found lurking around outside the fairground. Seems like your boy Mickey was followed.” Solar said holding Davis up by his throat.   
“No, you idiots!” Mick whispered as Jake smirked deviously, then slammed his fist into the distracted Mick, knocking him to the ground.   
“I told you what was going to happen if you brought friends Mickey.” Jake said calmly as three clones grabbed Mick dragging him backwards as he struggled to break free to get to his family. “Say goodbye now.” Jake said, flicking the switch.   
Time felt like it went into slow motion, as Mick watched in horror as the explosions went off, one by one, he watched his mom, sisters, and dad vanish in the flames. He dropped to the ground, completely and utterly defeated. He trembled in sorrow fighting back the tears, instead turning his pain into power. He quickly shot a web hitting Solar in the face, allowing Davis to escape, then turned his fury at Jake. Jake was surprised as Mick finally took the offensive, as he struggled blocking every swing of Mick’s blade. They locked blades, then Mick kneed Jake in the gut, sending him recoiling in shock. Mick followed by swinging the now electrified blade, smashing into Jake’s face, flipping him backwards and reeling on the ground in pain.   
Mick popped his neck as he walked over to Jake, slamming his blade into his chest, squeezing the trigger, sending volts into him, as he screaming in agony. “You wanted me to suffer, now you’re going to suffer too!” Mick growled furiously. He stopped as he heard a scream from behind him. His heart stopped once again as he saw Arachnid holding a web-wrapped Sam. He kicked Jake in the face, knocking him out, as he full sprinted towards Arachnid. Arachnid threw Sam aside, as he used his four arms to shot webs, as Mick burned each one before it could touch him. Arachnid them smiled devilishly as he pulled Sam up with a web, throwing her at Mick. He paused to catch her, not realizing that was exactly want Arachnid wanted, was then body slammed by him. Sam and Mick crashed to the ground as Arachnid stood over them, venom dripping from his fangs.   
Sam quickly broke out of the now frozen webs, shooting ice into Arachnid’s face as Mick recompiled himself, grabbing his blade, then jumping to his feet. “Go help Grey Wolf, I’ll handle this.” Mick said as Sam nodded, leaving Mick to face his original foe.   
“You’ve grown a lot boy, I bet your blood taste amazing now that it’s more ripe.” Arachnid said swinging at Mick, who dodged with ease.   
“I bet there’s a special place in hell for monsters like you.” Mick yelled as Arachnid shot webs from his four arms, with Mick spinning, slashing threw them. The fell to the ground in flames as the Mick’s blade crackled with electricity. “I used to be afraid of you, you used to be the monster of my nightmares. Now, you’re nothing!” Mick growled, swinging the blade, as Arachnid foolishly caught it. His body recoiled wildly as Mick released the blade, jumping and punching Arachnid to the ground, then webbing him tightly.   
“At least it wasn’t all for nothing, I got to watch you lose this time!” Arachnid hissed, spitting out blood as he struggled to break free. Mick looked at him viciously, then stabbed his blade into Arachnid’s chest. He felt the cracking of his ribs as he pushed the blade down harder, then squeezed the trigger, listening to Arachnid’s agony, as the webs caught fire. Mick smiled darkly, slamming his foot into Arachnid’s face leaving him unconscious in the burning webs. 

He then turned to Solar, who had a gun in his hand, pointed at Sam, with Davis on the ground. His heart stopped as he heard the gunshot, and his vision went red as he watched Sam crumble to the ground. He wasn’t even aware that he was running, until Solar had a look of horror on his face. Before he realized what was happening his blade was impaled into Solar’s stomach. Mick’s body trembled as he watched Solar stagger backwards, then collapse to the ground, coughing blood. He then turned to Sam, who was laying in a pool of blood.   
“Sam!” Mick cried, pulling his mask off, seeing the pain in her eyes.   
“I’m, I’m sorry Mick. It’s my fault.” She stammered, as she held her hands over the wound in her chest.   
“No, none of this is your fault, please, save your energy.” Mick wept, moving her hands, trying to web the wound to stop the bleeding.   
“It really is though, if I wouldn’t have screamed.” She paused, coughing up blood, then falling unconscious.   
“Sam! Sam please wake up!” Mick cried as her eyes flickered, showing fear and pain. “Coulson! Someone! Please! I need help!” Mick screamed, as the tears fell. Davis stood up, placing his arms around Mick as he held Sam tightly, screaming for help until his voice could no longer produce a sound. As Coulson and the rest of his team ran to Mick, taking Sam on a stretcher, Mick stayed motionless, staring at the now burned post in front of him and tSam’s blood coating his arms.   
“Mick, I’m sorry.” Coulson said as Mick remained silent. He placed his arm on Mick’s shoulder, rubbing him consolingly, as he walked away leaving Mick with Patten, Jerren, and Davis.   
“Not only did I lose everything, I’ve killed someone.” Mick said, then the wall of rage holding him up crumbled as his friends embraced him, sobbing loudly as his world had officially ended. He thought it was just a joke that the date 06-06-06 was going to be the end of the world, turns out, it wasn’t a joke, not for him. His world truly ended that day. He lost his mom and dad, his sisters, and the love of his life, leaving him only with his closest friends. His powers had cost him almost everything, and he was helpless to change it. His friends carried him to the evacuation site, as rain slowly began to fall. He stared lifelessly out of the helicopter’s window at the sight of his greatest failure, his tears, falling like the rain. 

Mick was now revealed to the his hometown as Recluse due to the new feed that Mick had tried to ignore, as they poured out their hearts to him in gratitude at the large funeral they held for his family and Sam. Coulson stood by Mick’s side as did his friends throughout the funeral and burial. Even Natasha was there, trying her best to help Mick. He stood for hours at the graveside in the pouring rain and thunder, as Coulson and his friends waited silently. He then laid his very first Recluse suit on the ground between Sam’s grave and his Moms. He had a half hearted smile, as he noticed the hero name Aurora in quotations on Sam’s headstone. He stood up, looking towards the ever patient family he had left. He slowly walked to Coulson, his eyes red and swollen. “I’m coming to New York with you. I don’t have anything left here.” Mick said softly as Coulson embraced him.   
“I’m so sorry Mick. I’d never wish this on even my enemies.” Coulson said hoarsely.   
“We’ll all be right here for you Mick. Whether you want to be Recluse anymore, or not.” Davis said with a half hearted smile.   
“Oh no, I’m going to be Recluse. I’m going to fight in honor of them. I’m going to make the world a better place, so no one has to suffer like this.” Mick said solemnly, as everyone embraced him. He felt a small glimmer of hope in his heart, as these people, were his new world. Mick wiped his eyes, as he walked with his team to the SUV’s waiting for them. As he sat down in the back seat, he could’ve sworn he saw Sam and his family smiling in approval by the gravesite. He rubbed his eyes, and they were gone.


	20. Epilogue

Epilogue: Scars Last Forever

Mick walked into the Academy behind Agent Coulson, who had been giving him the history tour of the Campus. He saw his friends standing beside two unfamiliar faces, all smiling at him. Mick assumed one was Leopold Fitz, the other Jemma Simmons, the friends Jerren and Davis told him about on the flight. “You must be the super hero we heard so much about!” The girl said with a rather large and friendly smile and clear english accent.   
“I’m not much of a hero, but I’m here to get a better handle on it. I’m Mick, and you guys are?” Mick asked reaching out, as the curly haired boy shook his hand.   
“I’m Leopold Fitz, but you can just call me Fitz. I’m the one who designed the tech for your suit! ” He said politely in a Scottish accent, beaming with pride.   
“I’m Jemma Simmons, his partner. I do more of Bio-Chemistry. I made the new formula for your web shooters.” Her voice was super polite with the air of friendliness that just drew you in.   
“Good to meet you, both, finally. I’ve heard tons about you and how crazy smart you are.” Mick said as Jemma blushed, as Fitz just smiled.   
“You guys have plenty of time to bond, but for now, we need to finish our tour.” Coulson interjected as Mick rolled his eyes.   
“See you around lunch?” Davis asked, as Mick shrugged.   
“Yeah, we should be done by then, right Boss?” Mick said smiling looking up at Coulson.   
“We’ll see.” Coulson teased as he lead Mick through the large open hallways.

After a brief tour of the inside of the Operations side of the Academy, Coulson lead Mick to his dorm. “Now, these aren’t as closed off as the HQ was.” Coulson teased, opening the door, revealing everything from his old room in this large open room, with a window overlooking the courtyard.   
“Are you serious? This is my room?” Mick asked in amazement, running his hand over his dresser, and admiring everything about the room. He paused looking at the photo of him with the rest of his family from the Christmas of 2005.   
“I wasn’t sure if we should’ve brought-” Coulson paused as Mick embraced him.   
“Thanks Coulson. Really, thank you.” Mick said releasing him.   
“You’re not going to get all angsty on us now are you?” Coulson asked unsure as Mick smiled.   
“Angsty? Me? Never.” Mick smiled along with Coulson. He walked over to the window, looking out seeing his friends laughing while sitting at a picnic table.   
“I also got you a little something.” Coulson said opening the top drawer of Mick’s desk, pulling out a present.   
“What else could you possibly give me?” Mick asked, taking the box. He opened it, seeing a black leather trench coat, with his spider logo in blue on the left shoulder, and the S.H.IE.L.D. logo on the right. Mick smiled as he tried it on.   
“You wanted a new uniform, so I figured this would fit more of the agent style, welcome to the agency, Agent Recluse.” Coulson said happily as Mick beamed. “Fitz and Simmons repaired the other one too, if you still wanted to wear it.”   
“I’ll figure something out.” Mick said sliding into the shirt of his costume, then pulled on the coat.   
“I’m not sure how I feel about the all black look, alway’s seemed rather gothic to me, but it seems to fit you well.” Coulson said as Mick admired the look in the mirror.   
“Well, this is the new me.” Mick said as he stepped beside Coulson. “Are you sure you’re ready for me to be an agent?”   
“You still have to graduate first, but I think we’ll manage.” Coulson teased as Mick winked.   
“Graduating should be the easy part, right?” Mick asked as they closed the door, walking back into the hallway.   
“Guess we’ll see. Good luck, Mick. If you need anything, you know how to find me.” Coulson said reaching out his hand.   
“Thanks. I should be fine here with these guys. I’ll see you at graduation.” Mick said running off towards the stairs, as Coulson smiled proudly.   
“I’ll be looking forward to it.” Coulson said softly, as his phone began ringing.


End file.
